USAA AT 100

room to expand eligibility? Or is the company focusing on expanding market share within that pool?

A: It’s a little of each. … There are still opportunities for us to conceptualize that military community a little bit more broadly. The nature of the military has changed in terms of who’s wearing a uniform and who’s wearing a U.S. Department of Defense civilian uniform. Today, we allow family members who are children of those who are members, but maybe there’s an opportunity down the road to think about family a little more broadly.

Going forward, we will thoughtfully look at opportunities to expand our definition or our aperture for serving military families.

At the same time, we have a great relationship with our current members, but not all of them take full advantage of what USAA has to offer, so there’s tremendous opportunity to serve each of our members more broadly or deeply than we are today. So a combination of continuing to look a little bit more broadly at the community, but every day working on serving each of our members in the best way possible.

Q: You’re a past board chairman of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, now known as Greater: SATX. What kind of leadership role do you see USAA having in San Antonio’s economic development? Or do you see USAA as more of a global brand and less of a major player here?

A:

Again, I think it’s both. This is our hometown. This is where we were founded. This is where our headquarters is. It’s vitally important for us that we have a healthy education system, that we have a healthy health care system, and that we’re building pathways for folks to be able to get the right education and get a great job, because that’s good for our city as a whole, but it’s also great for USAA as an employer here.

We’re very dedicated to economic development today, with (Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel) Bob Johnson now on the (Greater: SATX) board, as we were with me and, quite frankly, as we were in the very beginning with Gen. McDermott, who really set in motion economic development in a formal way.

But having said that, we serve military families across the globe, and we certainly have employees in other markets, and so we do have a broader reach than just San Antonio. We’re continuing to do the same thing in other communities, maybe not to the degree we do in San Antonio, but the formula is the same.

If we’re a great corporate citizen and we help invest and support the growth of infrastructure for human capital in each of these markets, it’s going to drive a better labor supply, better quality employees who can work both at USAA and at other companies in those markets.

Note: McDermott founded the San Antonio EDF.

Q: USAA shifted to a more flexible work model during the coronavirus pandemic. Is that a permanent or temporary change?

A:

I think it’s neither. We’re evolving. The pandemic certainly accelerated trends that were already in place in terms of using technology to work remotely. It awakened us all to the opportunity to blend personal needs and job needs and find the right balance.

As we come out of the acute phase of the pandemic and continue to evolve going forward, flexibility will be very much a part of the equation. I almost hate using the word “hybrid,” but it’s probably the best word for the moment in terms of creating the flexibility to work from anywhere when necessary but to be together as a community, to support culture development, to support innovation and to support apprenticeship for many of the young employees, not just in our company but in companies across America.

We’re in a period of evolution, much as we have been in the past. The velocity is just a

lot quicker today.

Q: How often do you come into the office?

A: I come in either four or five days a week. I love being in the office. I miss hanging out with my wife because during the pandemic we got to spend a lot of time together, but I think it’s vitally important to be here, to walk the floor. (Before this interview) I was walking around talking to new employees. It’s great for our leadership team to be together as well.

Q: With more employees working remotely than they were before the pandemic, is USAA re-evaluating any of its real estate holdings?

A:

We’ve made some decisions in downtown San Antonio, and we’ll continue to address that. Most recently, we opened an office in Charlotte (N.C.).

In some respects, we’re shifting our footprint and downsizing because of the hybrid nature of work. In other cases, we’re opening offices because we want to be where talent is. Like all aspects of business, we’ll continue to evaluate, and I’m certain our footprint will ebb and flow, much as it has done over the last 100 years.

Note: USAA is vacating and subleasing some of its downtown space and recently ended incentive agreements with the city of San Antonio and Bexar County.

Q: You’re USAA’s first chief executive without a