CEO says it has potential applications in risk management and lending decisions
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has announced a move that will see it expand its capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI), with potential applications in risk management and lending decisions.
The move in question is an exclusive partnership with and minority stake in Silicon Valley AI firm H2O.ai, which operates the cloud-based machine learning platform, H2O AI Cloud, and employs a significant number of the leading data scientists.
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Matt Comyn, chief executive officer of CBA, said that the move will “further differentiate and extend” the major bank’s AI capabilities to “better anticipate customer needs, and reimagine products and digital experiences to meet those needs.”
“This partnership will accelerate our ability to deliver a broader customer proposition through more personalised experiences, which delivers greater value for our customers,” said Comyn.
As part of the agreement, CBA will provide H2O.ai’s AI Cloud platform to its entire organisation, including data scientists, data engineers, and business users. The bank will gain a dedicated H2O.ai team of experts, including machine learning engineers and product specialists, to work full time on developing new AI solutions within the bank.
“We are building an AI-powered organisation for the benefit of our customers,” said Andrew McMullan, chief data and analytics officer at CBA. “We intend to be one of the highest quality, lowest cost sources of leads to our business customers.”
Comyn added that the bank sees broad application for AI and machine learning technology across their business – including in operational processes, protecting customers from fraud, lending decisions, and risk management.
“It builds on the foundational data and analytics capabilities that Commonwealth Bank has developed over the past decade,” said Comyn. “We aspire to be the trusted partner at the centre of our customers’ financial lives. To do this in an increasingly digital world, artificial intelligence is playing an even more important role in delivering personalised and relevant experiences.”
