Proactive Investors - Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY) has made an appointment in the newly created role of director of artificial intelligence (AI), poaching a head of data and AI strategy from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services (AWS).
The FTSE 100 lender said the role was designed to integrate AI and analytics into key parts of the business, which it said "will improve the overall customer experience".
It is carrying out trials of 50 different uses of AI and data analytics, including the use of chatbots in customer services, increasing the speed of support, and detecting early signs of fraud.
Rohit Dhawan, who holds a PhD in AI from the University of Sydney and was the AWS AI strategy chief for the Asia-Pacific region, has been appointed as director of AI, reporting to the lender's chief data and analytics officer, Ranil Boteju.
Lloyds said he will be "responsible for shaping the overall AI, ML and advanced analytics strategy, driving technical excellence, and promoting the adoption of AI enabled products and services to enhance and transform the experience for the group’s 27 million customers".
He will also lead a new 'AI centre of excellence' which would bring together experts in data science, behavioural science, machine learning and AI ethics, where the bank aims to hire a team of over 30 PhDs in these disciplines.
Dhawan said he would look "how we can transform the way we use data and tech to respond to changing customer needs".
Earlier this year, Lloyds said it will cut 1,600 jobs across its branch network as more customers move to banking digitally, though this restructuring would only see drop in headcount of 769 jobs as other roles were created.
The lender said today that it has recruited 1,500 technology and data specialists this year, with a total of more than 4,000 hired over the past two and a half years.