Alex Benke

Alex Benke is Head of Artificial Intelligence at Ridgeline, where he leads the firm’s AI platform strategy, research, and internal AI investments that support employees across the organization. In this role, Alex focuses on turning emerging AI capabilities into practical, responsible tools that help investment managers work more efficiently and deliver better outcomes for their clients.

With more than two decades of experience building complex financial software, Alex has led product managers, engineers, and researchers in both B2C and B2B settings. Before joining Ridgeline, Alex spent seven years at Betterment, where he served as Vice President of Financial Advice and Investing. At Betterment, Alex helped define the firm’s investment and financial planning strategy, led a cross‑functional team spanning quantitative research, behavioral economics, and financial planning, and played a key role in the firm’s evolution into a “hybrid” robo‑advisor that combines automated advice with access to Certified Financial Planners. In that capacity, Alex oversaw investment committee responsibilities and regulatory oversight for Betterment’s multi‑billion‑dollar portfolios and licensed representatives, and frequently represented the firm in industry conferences and the financial press.

Earlier in his career, Alex spent a decade at JPMorgan, contributing to some of the world’s largest financial systems and gaining deep experience with the infrastructure, data, and risk considerations that underpin modern markets. Alex has also advised and mentored early‑stage fintech companies through programs such as Techstars, sharing practical insight on building technology‑driven businesses in regulated financial domains.

Alex earned a B.S. in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University, later obtaining the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation and serving as a Series 65 investment adviser. Throughout his career, Alex has been driven by a belief that the best financial software makes complexity feel simple—by keeping technology out of the way, focusing relentlessly on customer value, and using automation and AI to free experts to do their highest‑impact work.