BOK Financial CEO discusses economy, AI, data centers and Tulsa’s growth

The head of BOK Financial — a $54 billion Tulsa-based institution with operations now in eight states — expressed optimism about the economy in Oklahoma and the U.S.

"I think the economy is doing a lot better than the public numbers are showing," said Stacy Kymes, president and CEO.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Tulsa World last week, Kymes expressed his opinions on the banking industry, the new chairman of the Federal Reserve and Tulsa's economy.

And he used a baseball analogy to describe artificial intelligence.

"The story for me in the last 12 months has been the resiliency of the American business," he said.

Kymes said he was recently at a lunch with a "series of clients" in Denver.

"One of the clients said, 'You know, I think we've all been through so much in the last 15 years,' whether it's the 'great financial crisis' or COVID or all of the things ... supply chain issues."

Kymes said that the person added, "'I think business has decided ... we've just got to do the things we've got to do to run our business.'"

Following COVID, tariffs and conflict in the Middle East affecting the price of oil, Kymes said: "Despite all of that noise, American business has been amazingly resilient. More so than anytime than I can remember in my career."

Kymes has been with BOK Financial for 30 years, about 4½ years as president and CEO of the bank, whose principal owner is philanthropist and businessman George Kaiser.

Kaiser was a main financial contributor for Tulsa's Gathering Place, among many other endeavors.

BOK Financial has $54 billion in assets (value) and manages $124 billion in investments "under management and administration," Kymes said.

Data centers and a bubble

"The public policy of data centers," Kymes said, "I don't have an opinion about that."

However, he compared data center initiatives to the tech bust in the mid-1990s.

"The markets are concerned: Are we over-building the data center capability and is that a bubble in and of itself?

"I don't think that's an answerable question right now," Kymes said.

He said what's different now compared to the tech bust in the 1990s is that "businesses that are participating in this particular boom ... are very well financially." Kymes mentioned Amazon, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft and Google, known among data center developers as the Big 4.

"It's not like they are not going to be able to pay the bills. Which is what really happened in the internet boom. Because you had all these high valuations for companies that didn't have cash flow. When that bubble busted, there was a real downstream impact from that in the broader economy," Kymes said.

Companies driving data-center growth are very well financially situated, he said, despite the controversy surrounding their projects.

"I don't know if it's noble when you're in the middle of it. Because anytime you have these vast technology changes or productivity changes, it's really hard to know, when you are in the middle of it.

"And whether that's Henry Ford in the assembly line, or whether that's the advent of the PC or the internet, you can only really know when you're on the other side of it."

He said some people are scared of big-scale transformations regarding technology.

"It's just change. That's been true from every kind of transformation, from an agricultural economy to an urban economy," Kymes said.

"From the buggy whip to the car ... the advent of the PC and then the internet — all of those are change, and those things can make people nervous from time to time."

BOK's growth and Tulsa's economy

Kymes touted BOK's growth, its commitment to customers and to the city.

Tulsa's downtown arena — which has hosted artists such as the Eagles, Garth Brooks and KISS, as well as past Bassmaster Classic weigh-ins — bears BOK's name, along with the city's tallest building. (Williams actually owns the 52-story skyscraper; BOK is a tenant.)

Kymes said sometimes he will be contacted by people asking why a concert or other event was postponed or canceled at the BOK Center.

"I get those kinds of questions," he said, laughing.

"We are growing," Kymes said of BOK, adding the bank has been in the Dallas area since 1998.

"We know how big that market is," he said. "You see that footprint, and it's been a great footprint for us."

BOK brands itself as "BOK Financial" in Phoenix, Kansas City, Denver and northwest Arkansas.

In Albuquerque, it's Bank of Albuquerque; in Oklahoma it's Bank of Oklahoma; in Texas it's Bank of Texas.

"It turns out Bank of Oklahoma doesn't play very well in Texas," he said, smiling. "We want to brand as local as we can unless the brand is ubiquitous," he said.

Kymes said he was supportive of Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols' efforts to help alleviate homelessness, especially downtown.

He also touted BOK's programs that can help people buy a house or get advice.

"We have programs where we help first-time homebuyers. We have down-payment system programs.

"There's not a one-size fits-all solution for that," he said. "It's a complicated problem."

He said companies such BOK Financial, Williams, ONEOK, ONE Gas and QuikTrip are "outstanding corporate citizens."

"They are making and continuing to make Tulsa great," he said. "I think that's awesome.

"We live here. All but one of my members of my executive team lay their head on a pillow at night in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

"We care deeply about Tulsa. All of us who have a legacy here have a vested interest in making sure that Tulsa's vibrant, it's growing and it's a place where we can attract students when they graduate from college and want to come back here."

AI and baseball

Kymes used a baseball analogy when asked about AI and its applications.

"AI will be as transformational as the PC and the internet," he said. "I think we're in the very early innings of that."

He said BOK — amid millions of regular transactions — is using AI in digital coding and to prevent fraud.

"But we're still in the first or second inning of a very long ballgame in determining how AI or AI agents can be helpful," he said.

"There will be a transition that will happen as a result of that. But all industries — including banking — are going through this understanding of how to use AI in order to help us."

Kymes also touted younger workers at BOK.

"I love having multi-generations in the workforce," he said. "Because there is great wisdom and knowledge ... that older generations can provide to our younger employees.

"But there's things like AI, where our younger employees have been digital natives. I mean, they've grown up with a digital device in their hand their whole life."

He pointed out how comfortable those employees are with technology, with the ability to teach older employees how to use it to improve productivity.

"That's the fun part about having a multi-generational workforce — the ability for each generation to learn from the other," he said.

Fed chair

Asked about new Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, Kymes said:

"I've heard nothing but very good things about him. He's very well respected in our industry, regardless of political persuasion.

"He's a very serious person, and I think he will bring good leadership to the Fed."

Kymes also mentioned Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Travis Hill. The FDIC supplies insurance to depositors for U.S. commercial and savings banks. It was established during the Great Depression in 1933 after the bank failures in that era.

"I think all of the (federal) leadership that has been put in place in the financial services area, ... they understand the industry. They want good things for the U.S. economy," Kymes said.

"They understand the role of regulation in that. They understand the need for good regulation. They understand the role that over-regulation can play."