Gary Fusco
Senior Vice President for Mainframe Platform, Middleware Engineering, and Operations
M&T Bank
Buffalo, New York, United States
This profile features Gary Fusco, one of the top four 2026 Influential Mainframers in the class of 2026.
The future of the mainframe won’t come from outside — it’s being built from the inside out, with Gary proving the platform isn’t the problem.
In the 170 years since M&T Bank was founded, the financial world has moved from ledger books to liquid-cooled data centers. Yet, for much of that time, the mainframe has been treated like a medieval castle: a high-security island, revered but isolated, and accessible only to a select few who speak its “ancient” languages.
Gary Fusco, Senior Vice President for Mainframe Platform, Middleware Engineering, and Operations at M&T Bank, is done with the isolation.
By treating the mainframe not as a legacy to be guarded, but as a high-velocity tech incubator, Gary is proving that you don’t need to leave the platform to find the future. Through a radical apprenticeship model and a “no-fear” DevOps transition, he is inviting a new generation to rewrite the rules inside the castle walls.
Not a Pipeline Problem. A Pathway Problem
While much of the industry frets over replacing skilled retirees, Gary has instead spent the last five years building a talent factory.
After unsuccessful attempts at university recruitment programs and traditional internships, Gary led the development of a two-year apprenticeship initiative at M&T Bank called the Z Development Program (ZDP). It combines technical training through IBM’s Global Skills Accelerator (GSA) with immersive on-the-job experience.
Since the program’s launch in March 2021, with an initial cohort of nine, Gary has brought in 55 apprentices and boasts an 80-85% retention rate. Initially focused on systems programming and application development, ZDP now also encompasses opportunities in storage, automation, and security.
ZDP Apprenticeship Program: 5 Years, 55 Apprentices, 80%+ Retention
His model is built on a classic apprenticeship experience: find talent seeking opportunity, pay them to learn from experts, and provide a clear, dignified path to a full-time career.
Building a Talent Factory, Not a Talent Funnel
The program’s first year is dedicated to technical training through the GSA. Apprentices attend roundtable readouts during their first six months to gain a ground-level view of the operation. Additionally, each cohort member receives a mentor and a manager dedicated to their individual success.
As Executive Sponsor for ZDP, Gary’s leadership is hands-on; he meets with each apprentice one-on-one for at least the first three months. He poses meaningful questions, looking for honest answers: What do you like? How are you feeling in ZDP? What should the program do differently?
“We’ve got people who were short-order cooks, worked in retail, or were educators in fields like geology.”
The unorthodox backgrounds are a major contributor to ZDP’s success. Gary is amazed by the program and the talent coming in. In his words, “They are so welcoming and thankful for the opportunity to have a technical career without prior training or a degree.”
The Gravity of a Cap and Gown
One of the most significant milestones for apprentices happens at the one-year mark. Gary insists on a formal graduation ceremony for every successful group of apprentices, and he proudly wears a graduation cap and gown to reinforce community pride.
M&T Bank treats the completion of these mainframe engineering skills with the prestige of a nationally recognized credential, with both the CIO and the Chief Diversity Officer speaking.
The impact is life-changing. Following one graduation, an apprentice confessed to Gary that he had kept his old job because he didn’t think the program was “real.” He couldn’t believe a legitimate corporate opportunity like this existed for him, so he continued working as a bartender at night just in case.
“He’s still with us,” Gary added with a smile.
From Apprentices to Operators
The second year involves applying these new skills in real work environments, leading to permanent career opportunities within M&T’s technical job families. Finding mentors is never a struggle; managers and senior engineers consistently raise their hands to participate in the next class.
“There’s always more interest than we can budget,” Gary said with a chuckle. “But that’s a good thing.”
After completing year two of the apprenticeship, graduates join the Bank’s family of operators. They also become a part of the ZDP buddy system, pairing up with incoming cohorts, creating a self-sustaining cycle of knowledge.
Pride Is the Retention Strategy
When asked what keeps him engaged after three decades on the platform, Gary points directly to the ZDP apprentices. He gains immense satisfaction from watching new talent gain confidence on a platform that truly matters, while simultaneously seeing senior engineers rediscover their own excitement through mentoring.
“I get goosebumps every time I talk about it,” Gary noted. He’s still learning, and his role in shaping the next generation – as well as tenured engineers – is a powerful strategy for personal and professional engagement.
Modernizing Without Leaving the Mainframe
If the ZDP apprenticeship is Gary’s engine for talent, his DevOps strategy is the fuel.
He led M&T Bank through a shift to Git-based workflows and an Ansible-powered CI/CD pipeline. Not a “rip and replace,” but as a way to extend the mainframe’s strengths while changing how work gets done.
“We wanted to evolve the mainframe’s strengths without departing from our people.”
The rollout was intentionally bold. Instead of starting small, the team went straight to core banking. Using an Agile test-and-learn approach, they introduced automated code analysis, security scanning, and parallel development. This eliminated deployment bottlenecks and reduced manual effort.
“I wanted to do core banking first,” he said. “They were the most progressive team and stood to benefit the most.”
Today, M&T’s three largest mainframe applications run on this model, enabling faster releases, stronger compliance, and a more modern developer experience.
From Stability to Velocity
For decades, the mission of a mainframe team was simple: keep the platform organized, available, and stable. By those metrics, the industry was extraordinarily successful. But Gary Fusco argues that stability is no longer the finish line; it’s the baseline.
“The goal today isn’t just to keep the lights on,” Gary said. “It’s to engineer the mainframe as an integrated, vital heartbeat of the entire digital ecosystem.”
Giving People the Keys
For companies standing at the crossroads of modernization, Gary’s roadmap is clear:
- Move to API-first design to increase velocity.
- Embrace product ownership to drive outcomes instead of just closing tickets.
- Pursue business development as the only way to truly know what customers want.
- Put AI on the mainframe today. Use it as an enabler to provide real‑time insights, higher performance, and continued scalability on a platform that’s second to none for transaction throughput.
Yet, learning the technology is only half the battle. The real modernization happens when a short-order cook or a former bartender realizes they can command one of the most powerful systems on earth.
“The mainframe is modern, it is alive, and it is the way forward,” Gary concluded. “We just have to be bold enough to give people the keys.”
You can connect with Gary on LinkedIn.
Follow @PlanetMainframe and #PMFInfluentialMainframers to congratulate this year’s honorees.
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