CEO Southeast Asia’s top bank DBS says AI adoption already paying off
Tan Su Shan, deputy chief executive and general manager of corporate banking at DBS Group Holdings Ltd., speaks at a press conference in Singapore on Wednesday, August 7, 2024. DBS chose Tan Su Shan as deputy to Chief Executive Piyush Gupta, paving the way for her to eventually become the first woman to lead Southeast Asia’s largest bank. Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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SINGAPORE – Amid fears of an AI bubble, much has been made of recent reports suggesting that AI is yet to deliver returns for companies investing billions of dollars to adopt the technology.
But the chief executive of Southeast Asia’s largest bank doesn’t see it; He says his firm’s AI initiatives are already paying off, and this is just the beginning.
“It’s not a hope. It’s happened now. It’s already happening. It’s going to get better,” DBS CEO Tan Su Shan told CNBC on the sidelines of Singapore Fintech Week when asked about the promise of AI adoption.
DBS has been working to implement AI across the bank for over a decade, which has helped prepare internal data analytics for the latest waves of productive and agency AI.
Agentic AI is a type of artificial intelligence that relies on data to proactively make independent decisions, plan and execute tasks autonomously, with minimal human oversight.
Tan is waiting The adoption of AI will give DBS a revenue boost of more than S$1 billion (about $768 million) this year; This compares to SG$750 million in 2024. This assessment is based on approximately 370 AI use cases supported by more than 1,500 models across the enterprise.
“The proliferation of generative AI has been transformative for us,” Tan said, adding that the company has experienced a “snowball effect” in benefits thanks to machine learning.
A key area where DBS is applying AI is in its financial services for corporate clients; AI is used to collect and leverage data about customers to better contextualize and personalize offers.
According to Tan, this has resulted in “faster and more resilient” teams. The CEO believes these uses of AI have contributed to the bank’s recent increase in deposit growth compared to competitors.
The company is also recently launched Known as “DBS Joy”, it is a newly developed AI-powered assistant for corporate customers, assisting customers with their unique corporate banking queries around the clock.
ROI concerns
Despite Tan’s strong beliefs about AI, recent evidence shows that many companies are struggling to turn their AI investments into tangible profits.
MIT published a statement report In July, the report found that 95% of 300 publicly announced AI initiatives, covering $30-40 billion in productive AI investments, failed to generate real returns.
But there are signs that the tide is turning, at least in the banking sector.
While DBS does not distinguish productive AI spending from other in-house investments, other major banks have recently offered this comparison.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said in an interview with Bloomberg TV last month that the bank has already covered its annual investment of approximately $2 billion in the adoption of artificial intelligence. He added that this represents “just the tip of the iceberg.”
These expectations are shared by DBS, which plans to continue accelerating artificial intelligence development. Artificial intelligence powered bank.
The ultimate goal, according to Tan, is for generative AI to evolve into a trusted financial advisor for customers, including retail users, who are expected to interact with personalized AI representatives through the DBS banking app.
The bank currently has over 100 artificial intelligence algorithms that analyze users’ data and provide them with personalized “nudges” such as warnings about deficiencies, product recommendations and other information.
Ongoing artificial intelligence investments
While DBS is already reaping the rewards of AI adoption, Tan acknowledged that this will require continued investment, not only in terms of capital but also the time required to reskill employees.
The company has launched several AI reskilling initiatives across departments this year and even launched a productive app. AI-powered coaching tool support these efforts.
This will help the company automate mundane tasks and refocus its staff on building and maintaining human-to-human relationships with customers rather than reducing headcount, Tan said.
“We’re not doing a hiring freeze, but that means reskilling. And that’s a journey. It’s a never-ending journey… a constant evolution.”
