NAIROBI, Kenya, June 29 – As businesses increasingly face pressure to balance commercial performance with workforce inclusion, accessibility and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, companies are reassessing how they attract, retain and develop talent.
In this interview with Capital Business, Randall Tucker, Executive Vice President and Chief Community & Belonging Officer at Mastercard, discusses how the company measures inclusion, the role of AI in workforce management and the lessons African employers and policymakers can draw from Mastercard’s global experience.
Q: How does Mastercard evaluate the business return on its investments in belonging, accessibility and workforce inclusion, and what metrics matter most to management and shareholders?
Randall Tucker:
I have been doing this work for over 20 years, and the way I see it, measuring inclusion should be no different from showing a profit and loss statement for sales.
If we are serious about it, we hold it to the same standard as anything else in the business.
That is why we tie it directly to how we run. Bonuses for every Mastercard employee, not only senior leaders, are linked to our corporate score, which includes our ESG priorities such as pay parity.
We track engagement, retention and advancement, and we publish our progress, including our workforce demographics, so we can be held to account.
The clearest return shows up in the talent we attract and keep, the range of views we bring to a decision and the products we build because of them.
When people feel they belong and can see a path to grow, they do their best work, and that is what creates lasting value for the business and its shareholders.
Q: Mastercard operates in more than 200 countries and territories. How do you maintain a consistent global strategy while navigating increasingly fragmented regulatory and social environments?
Randall Tucker:
We start with a clear global framework and then scale it through regional action plans built with leaders in each market.
In a company this global, consistency cannot mean one-size-fits-all. It means being clear on the principles that guide us, then giving each region the flexibility to bring them to life in a way that is credible on the ground.
When we built those plans, I worked with the leaders in each region as the experts on their own markets, because what matters most in one place can look very different in another.
Some of our strongest ideas start in the regions and are then scaled across the company, rather than the other way around.
A lot of my job is to listen, meet people where they are, and keep everyone moving in the same direction.
Q: Artificial intelligence is reshaping hiring, promotion and workforce management. What safeguards is Mastercard putting in place to ensure AI-driven decisions do not reinforce bias, and where do you see the biggest opportunities for AI to improve workplace accessibility?
Randall Tucker:
AI can create real opportunities in hiring, career development and accessibility, if people stay at the center and we build fairness in from the start.
We keep human judgment in the loop, so technology supports decisions rather than quietly making them, and so it widens the door rather than narrowing it.
A good example of designing for different needs is our neurodiversity hiring program, which we launched in 2021 with our technology team.
We changed how we interview, because not everyone shows their ability in a traditional interview. Instead, candidates work through a real-world exercise and show us what they can do.
The talent we have brought in this way has exceeded our expectations.
We use AI in the same spirit. Tools that summarize, support different languages or simplify how people navigate our systems make work more accessible for more people.
We also use AI in Unlocked, our internal talent marketplace, to match employees to opportunities based on their skills, experiences and the areas where they want to grow.
Q: Research often links diverse teams to stronger innovation and financial performance. Can you point to specific examples where Mastercard’s inclusion strategy has influenced product development, customer growth or business performance?
Randall Tucker:
We have seen first-hand that when you bring more perspectives into the room, you build better products and stronger customer experiences.
The question I always come back to is which perspectives are missing at the table, because that is usually where the unmet needs and the next ideas are hiding.
Touch Card is a strong example. We worked with blind and partially sighted people to design a card that they can identify by touch, using a different notch for credit, debit and prepaid.
It was endorsed by the Royal National Institute of Blind People in the UK and helped set a new accessibility standard for the industry.
That came straight from listening to real customer needs, and it shows how inclusion turns into practical innovation that serves everyone.
Q: Africa has one of the world’s youngest and fastest-growing workforces, yet barriers to employment remain significant for people with disabilities and other underrepresented groups. What lessons from Mastercard’s global experience are most relevant for employers and policymakers across the continent?
Randall Tucker:
The biggest lesson is to design inclusion in from the start rather than retrofit it later.
When you build a space, a system or a hiring process to work for the people most often left out, the benefits usually reach far more people than you expected.
For employers and policymakers, that means treating accessibility and inclusion as part of how you design work, hire and support people, rather than a step you add at the end.
It also means investing early in the pipeline. Programs like our Kids4Tech initiative, which runs in Kenya and across Africa, introduces young girls to science and technology so the talent is there to draw on in the years ahead.
The specifics will vary by market, but the principle holds everywhere. When more people can participate and thrive, the workforce and the economy are stronger.
