IBM CEO Contrasts with JPMorgan's Dimon on Meeting Tech Etiquette

A divergence in opinion has emerged between two prominent financial industry leaders regarding the appropriate use of personal technology during business meetings. Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, a global financial services firm with a significant presence in investment banking and asset management, has taken a firm stance against device usage in meetings. Speaking at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women summit in the fall of 2025, Dimon expressed his expectation for complete participant attention, stating he would directly instruct individuals to "close the damn thing" if they appeared to be distracted by emails or notifications on their devices, such as iPads. He characterized such behavior as "disrespectful" and a considerable waste of valuable time. This sentiment was further underscored in his annual letter to shareholders, released in the spring of 2025. In that communication, Dimon explicitly mentioned the word "meetings" six times, advocating for their necessity and productivity, and lamenting the prevalence of employees receiving notifications, personal texts, or reading emails during these sessions, declaring, "This has to stop. It’s disrespectful. It wastes time." Dimon's long-standing frustration with inefficient meeting practices is well-documented, as evidenced by his emphasis on optimizing meeting schedules and content in his shareholder correspondence.

In contrast, Arvind Krishna, the CEO of IBM, a multinational technology corporation with a deep history in computing and enterprise solutions, has articulated a more accommodating perspective. Krishna believes that for a technology-centric company like IBM, imposing a blanket ban on device usage would be "weird." He differentiates between meeting sizes, suggesting that in very large meetings, which he views less as interactive discussions and more as "communication vehicles" for disseminating information, the use of technology might be more acceptable. Krishna shared these views in an interview with CNN in October 2025. However, he was quick to qualify his stance, acknowledging that in smaller, more intimate meetings, where direct engagement and attentiveness are paramount, he would "really frown upon" a participant being disengaged due to their phone. In such smaller settings, Krishna indicated he might suggest the individual "come back when you have time," implying a preference for focused interaction in more personal discussions. While Dimon's concerns appear to encompass a broad disapproval of device distraction in any meeting context, Krishna's approach offers a more nuanced view, recognizing the potential utility of technology in specific professional communication scenarios, particularly within an organization whose core business is innovation and the application of technology.