Leading the AI revolution at Lloyds Banking Group

“In the rapidly evolving landscape of financial services, my role of Head of AI at Lloyds Banking Group is both challenging, and exhilarating.”

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is here to stay. From the prospect of self-driving cars and AI-generated traffic management systems, through to revolutionary diagnostic tools and healthcare treatment plans – these new technologies look likely to radically alter the way we live and work.

But AI wasn’t always such a hot topic. In fact, back when I was a student studying AI research at Sydney University, the only representation of AI in the mainstream consisted of The Terminator movies. And as entertaining as they were, reality they most certainly were not.

Now, though, as the revolutionary potential of AI becomes clearer, leaders of financial institutions and large organisations across the board are putting AI at the heart of everything they do. At least, that’s the case here at Lloyds Banking Group, and why I’m thrilled to be its first Group Head of AI & Advanced Analytics.

My job is to foster conditions where customers and colleagues feel empowered to use and consume these groundbreaking technologies. It’s an exciting and invigorating task, and one that I can’t wait to get started on. Here’s a little more about my role, and plans moving forward.

Embracing AI to democratise innovation

The foremost task ahead of us is the democratisation of AI across the Group. This is a key initiative. In other words, I want to ensure that colleagues have access to, and more importantly, feel confident using new technologies.

By fostering a culture where colleagues and customers are not intimidated by these cutting-edge technologies, I hope to create a feeling of empowerment. In turn, this will encourage colleagues to build and deploy their AI models within a controlled testing environment that adhere to the Group’s risk and ethical guidelines.

I believe that this initiative not only encourages innovation, but also enhances productivity and will allow the Group to leverage AI in diverse and impactful ways. One of the ways I’m encouraging the democratisation of AI is through the Group’s Centre of Excellence and Advanced Analytics.

Establishing an AI Centre of Excellence

A significant milestone in my first three months is the establishment of a Centre of Excellence for AI and Advanced Analytics that brings together experts in Data Science, Behavioural Science, ML Engineering, Advanced Analytics and AI Ethics.

This centre serves as a hub for best practices, research, and development, ensuring that Lloyds Banking Group remains at the cutting edge of AI technology. Currently, the Group has over 3000 people working across data science, advanced analytics and business intelligence, highlighting the importance of the coming AI revolution, as well as the opportunities it has to offer.

The AI Centre of Excellence, then, is instrumental in driving forward-thinking projects and maintaining a high standard of AI deployment across the organisation.

Collaborating with industry leaders

It’s also imperative to forge strategic partnerships with industry leaders to enhance to AI capabilities. One notable collaboration is with Google Cloud Platform (GCP), which serves as the main data and AI toolkit for the bank. Google is not just providing the technology, but they’re also providing their experience and thought leadership. This partnership is pivotal in developing prototypes that improve customer experience and streamline operations. One such example is that of a Generative AI enabled customer interaction model that serves human like natural language content for a continuous dialogue.

Additionally, the Group recently invested in Aveni.AI – a fintech company that is building a large language model, tailored specifically for financial services. The impressive thing is that this model ensures that data is credible and remains within our territory when we chose to apply it to Lloyds, enabling us to enhance security and compliance, while also leveraging the power of generative AI. Such a model will help us solve a variety of problems, from processing of documents to automation of workflows.

Balancing innovation with ethical responsibility

As AI technology advances, ethical considerations become increasingly important. And we must consider risk and ethical practices in all AI initiatives. Making sure that those models follow our risk and ethical practices and guidelines is absolutely crucial.

One such example is model bias. AI models used for credit scoring or loan approvals might inadvertently discriminate against certain groups of people. This could happen if the data used to train the models contains biases, such as historical data that reflects past discriminatory practices. For instance, if an AI model uses factors like education or location as proxies for creditworthiness, it might unfairly disadvantage individuals from certain socio-economic backgrounds. This commitment to ethical AI ensures that the Group innovations are not only cutting-edge, but also responsible and trustworthy too.

Using AI to improve customer experience

Improving customer experience is a core focus of the AI strategy at Lloyds Banking Group. Through partnerships with tech giants such as Google, the Group is exploring use cases that leverage AI to provide personalised and efficient services to our customers.

Indeed, developing prototypes for these use cases is a step towards creating a seamless and enhanced banking experience for all customers – where opening accounts, exploring financial products and working to solve issues for customers will become much easier and simpler in the long-run.

The future of AI at Lloyds Banking Group

My vision for the future includes expanding strategic partnerships and continuing to innovate within the AI space wherever possible.

The goal is to develop more use cases that not only improve operational efficiency, but also deliver exceptional value to customers. By staying at the forefront of AI technology and maintaining a strong ethical foundation, Lloyds Banking Group aims to lead the financial industry into a new era of digital transformation.

In conclusion, being the Head of AI at Lloyds Banking Group means navigating a complex and dynamic landscape, where innovation, collaboration, and ethical responsibility intersect. I hope to help drive the Group towards a future where AI is seamlessly integrated into every aspect of the business, enhancing both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Digital technology

About the author Rohit Dhawan

Group Head of Artificial Intelligence

Dr. Rohit Dhawan is the Group Executive Director of Artificial Intelligence at Lloyds Banking Group in the UK, where he leads a multidisciplinary team of AI specialists, data engineers, data scientists, and AI ethicists.

A prominent figure in data and AI strategy, Dr. Dhawan is a seasoned C-suite operator and a published author. Previously, Dr. Dhawan served as the Regional Head of Data & AI Strategy for Amazon Web Services in the Asia Pacific region, covering South-East Asia, Australia, and Japan. Dr. Dhawan retains a PhD in AI and a Master’s degree in IT from the University of Sydney

Follow Rohit on LinkedIn.

Rohit's background

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