The Incubation Team comes from all kinds of backgrounds, both technical and non-technical, like engineers, user experience designers, data analysts and product owners like Stephanie. Though they have different skills, the innovative team is united by their curiosity and collaborative spirit—an attitude that empowers all Synchrony employees, no matter their team, to work on important and impactful projects. “There’s a culture of partnership, both within the team and across the business. For example, we partner closely with the Information Security team to make sure everything we build is safe,” says Stephanie.

The Incubation Team focuses on trends that are two to three years out—not quite defined for the market but coming soon—and develops Minimum Viable Products (MVPs). These are early versions of products designed to allow the team to quickly test and learn how we can best use new technologies at Synchrony. The ultimate goal is to beta test solutions and then pass on the product and learnings to other teams within Synchrony to scale and own.

Innovation is in our DNA at Synchrony and the culture of ideation, discovery and action is encouraged from the top. The Incubation Team is sponsored by Chief Growth Officer Mike Bopp and Chief Technology and Operating Officer Carol Juel and most senior executives sit on the advisory board. “That trust from leadership is what allows us to tap into technology trends faster than competitors,” says Stephanie.

As generative AI took the world by storm in 2023, Synchrony and the Incubation Team moved quickly to find out how we could use the technology responsibly to improve customer experiences and drive business value. Born out of a 2023 Hackathon where more than 300 employees competed to create the best use case for gen AI, the Incubation Team developed our first consumer-facing generative AI tool for customers. Created to inspire customers to find what they’re looking for in a stylistic way, the tool lets shoppers type any phrase or theme and instantly get a curated selection of related products from our partners. In partnership with our Responsible AI Governance Group, Synchrony continues to explore how we can use AI to “create new and unexpected experiences in a safe way that protects our customers and their data,” according to Tim Christiansen, SVP of Product, Digital, Innovation and AI.

“I’m excited about what comes next,” says Stephanie, “Looking at our 2025 trend radar, we’re still focused on use cases for generative AI and this year we’re looking into new kinds of AI models that can do more with less data. We’re always looking for innovations in payments, and of course, we look at all these trends with the goal of helping people get their tasks done quicker and with less stress so they can spend more time doing what’s important to them.”

Think you would like to join a team where innovation is in their DNA? Search open roles.