Lloyds Banking Group Appoints AWS Executive Rohit Dhawan to Lead New AI and Analytics Unit

Lloyds hires AWS exec to head up new AI and analytics unit

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community. In this newly established role, Rohit Dhawan will lead the UK bank's AI Centre of Excellence , bringing together experts in data ccience, behavioral science, ML engineering, advanced analytics and AI ethics. He will be responsible for shaping the overall AI, ML and advanced analytics strategy and promoting the adoption of AI enabled products and services for the bank's 27 million customers. Rohit, who holds a PhD in artificial intelligence from the University of Sydney, joins from Amazon Web Services, where he served as the head of data and AI strategy across the Asia-Pacific region. In this role he spearheaded a number of strategic developments, including the integration of AI into customer and operational processes and establishing a multi-disciplinary data and AI function. Ranil Boteju, chief data and analytics officer at Lloyds Banking Group says: "Rohit's appointment is a significant boost for the strategic development of AI technology and capabilities within Lloyds Banking Group, with his wealth of experience delivering technology and change, at pace and scale. Rohit will work across the business to further integrate AI outcomes into business priorities, helping us to scale AI in a consistent way and deliver against our strategy." Lloyds is currently trailing over 50 use cases for AI across the business, including increasing the speed of support, quality of chatbot tools and detecting early warning signs of fraud. So far this year the bank has recruited another 1,500 technology and data specialists, taking the total to more than 4,000 over the past two and a half years. Says Dhawan: "I'm excited to work for an organisation undergoing one of the largest transformations in financial services and look at how we can transform the way we use data and tech to respond to changing customer needs."

Lloyds Banking : appoints Rohit Dhawan as Group Director of AI and Advanced Analytics

Rohit will be responsible for scaling the Group's AI capabilities and heading up the newly formed AI Centre of Excellence. Lloyds Banking Group has appointed Rohit Dhawan as Director of AI (artificial intelligence). He will report to Ranil Boteju, the Group's Chief Data and Analytics Officer. In this newly established role, Rohit will lead the Group's AI Centre of Excellence , bringing together experts in Data Science, Behavioral Science, ML Engineering, Advanced Analytics and AI Ethics. 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. Under Rohit's leadership, the AI Centre of Excellence will progress our commitment to attracting and retaining leading AI and Ethics talent within the UK, adding to its growing team of industry recognised experts, including a dedicated team of over 30 PhDs in key disciplines. Lloyds Banking Group will also continue its focus on nurturing early careers in AI and Data science through our data science graduate programme, one of the largest in the UK. An industry veteran, Rohit holds a PhD in artificial intelligence from the University of Sydney. He joins from Amazon Web Services, where he served as the Head of Data and AI Strategy across the Asia-Pacific region. In this role he spearheaded a number of strategic developments, including the integration of AI into customer and operational processes and establishing a multi-disciplinary data and AI function. Ranil Boteju, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Lloyds Banking Group said: "I'm delighted to welcome Rohit Dhawan as our new Director of AI and Advanced Analytics. Rohit's appointment is a significant boost for the strategic development of AI technology and capabilities within Lloyds Banking Group, with his wealth of experience delivering technology and change, at pace and scale. Rohit will work across the business to further integrate AI outcomes into business priorities, helping us to scale AI in a consistent way and deliver against our strategy." Rohit Dhawan, Director of AI and Advanced Analytics at Lloyds Banking Group added: "It's a privilege to join Lloyds Banking Group, and I'm excited to work for an organisation undergoing one of the largest transformations in financial services and look at how we can transform the way we use data and tech to respond to changing customer needs. I'm looking forward to progressing the Group's ambitious AI strategy and maximising opportunities across the organisation as part of the Group's purpose to help Britain prosper." As part of Lloyds Banking Group's strategy announced in February 2022, it has committed to accelerate the pace at which it uses digital technologies and data to support its customers. So far this year the Group has recruited another 1,500 technology and data specialists, taking the total to more than 4,000 over the past two and a half years.

Lloyds Banking Names Group Director of AI, Advanced Analytics

Lloyds Banking Group hired Rohit Dhawan for the newly-created director of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics position. Dhawan will supervise the integration and scaling of AI into customer and operational processes as part of the U.K. lender's digitization push, it said Monday. "Rohit's appointment is a significant boost for the strategic development of AI technology and capabilities within Lloyds Banking Group," said Chief Data and Analytics Officer Ranil Boteju, who Dhawan will report to. The bank is accelerating its use of digital technologies and data to support customers as part of its strategy launched in February 2022. Since then, it has recruited over 4,000 technology and data specialists. It is trialing more than 50 use cases with AI and analytics, which include the improvement of support speed, chatbot tool quality and detecting early warning signs of fraud, it said. Dhawan was previously the regional head of Amazon Web Services' data and AI strategy in the Asia-Pacific region.

Lloyds Taps AWS Vet Rohit Dhawan to Lead AI Efforts

British banking giant Lloyds has picked an Amazon Web Services veteran as its AI head. Rohit Dhawan has been named Lloyds' director of artificial intelligence (AI), overseeing the firm's AI Center of Excellence and driving adoption of AI-powered products and services for the lender, per a Monday (Aug. 5) news release. "Rohit's appointment is a significant boost for the strategic development of AI technology and capabilities within Lloyds Banking Group, with his wealth of experience delivering technology and change, at pace and scale," Ranil Boteju, the bank's chief data and analytics officer, said in the release. "Rohit will work across the business to further integrate AI outcomes into business priorities, helping us to scale AI in a consistent way and deliver against our strategy." In his time with Amazon Web Services, Dhawan served as the head of data and AI strategy for the Asia-Pacific region, leading projects like the integration of AI into customer and operational processes and establishing a multi-disciplinary data and AI function, the release said. According to Lloyds, his hiring is part of the bank's larger strategy -- announced in 2022 -- to accelerate its use of digital technologies. The news comes as AI is poised to both challenge and transform the banking sector, according to a recent report by McKinsey. "The banking industry's track record with technology investments has been mixed, according to the firm," PYMNTS wrote last month. "McKinsey's research indicated that only 30% of digital transformation initiatives have succeeded. This statistic underscores banks' difficulty demonstrating a return on investment for their tech spending, particularly in AI." A number of factors exacerbate these challenges, McKinsey said: banks need to show return on past tech investments, stand out from rivals and succeed in ongoing transformation efforts. McKinsey's data showed that higher revenue in banking "remains very strongly correlated with more manual work," suggesting that technology still must deliver the expected automation benefits. The firm also stressed that capturing value from AI requires actions beyond the technology domain. McKinsey surveys revealed that 60% of executives pointed to skill gaps as an impeding digital transformation, while 70% faced resistance to change. "The integration of AI in banking also raises questions about the future role of human bankers," PYMNTS added. "While AI can streamline processes and provide quick data analysis, human judgment remains crucial, especially in complex financial decisions." Meanwhile, a report by Citigroup in June warned that the banking industry faces the most significant impact from AI deployment, with 54% of jobs at risk of AI-driven job displacement, while an additional 12% of banking roles could be enhanced by AI integration.

Lloyds Bank hires first director of AI to improve customer experience By Proactive Investors

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.