First Horizon Bank has promoted Catherine Wood to Senior Vice President, Head of Commercial Banking Strategy. The 15-year Raleigh banking veteran will now run the bank’s multi-year commercial growth plan.
Her brief: identify high-impact AI and technology opportunities across commercial onboarding, origination, underwriting and servicing. She also takes oversight of the commercial client experience, portfolio management and SBA lending.
“Catherine has consistently demonstrated strong leadership, deep industry knowledge and a talent for building long-term relationships that strengthen our commercial banking franchise,” said Samuel Erwin, Director of Regional Banking for First Horizon Bank. “Her promotion to lead Commercial Strategy is a well-deserved recognition of her impact. I’m confident she’ll continue to drive growth while delivering exceptional service for our clients and communities.”
Wood was most recently Head of Commercial Portfolio Management. Earlier, she led commercial and corporate portfolio managers and credit analysts across North Carolina and Virginia, and served as Credit Administration Manager at TrustAtlantic Bank before First Horizon acquired it in 2015.
She also built a financial literacy program for children ages 5 to 12 at The Daniel Center for Math and Science in Raleigh and previously chaired the board of Meals on Wheels of Wake County.
First Horizon Corp. held $84.4 billion in assets as of June 30, 2026, operating in 12 states across the southern U.S.
The Herald View: AI has moved from the innovation lab into the commercial strategy job description. The next phase of mid-market banking competition will be decided in underwriting and servicing workflows, not at the branch.
