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Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How 3 banks are capitalizing on AI
This story was originally published on CIO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CIO Dive newsletter. The banking industry was quick to recognize the business potential of generative AI and, on the flip side, appreciate the perils inherent in reckless adoption. Adept at managing risk, the sector's largest institutions took a cautious yet persistent approach moving pilots into production. Adoption has picked up momentum over the last year, according to Evident Insights, which tracks 50 of the largest banks in North America, Europe and Asia. The 50 banks announced 266 AI use cases as of last week, up from 167 in February, Colin Gilbert, VP of intelligence at Evident said Tuesday during a virtual roundtable hosted by the industry analyst firm. 'The vast majority, or about 75%, are still internal or employee facing,' he said, adding that the distribution between generative AI and traditional predictive AI use cases was split roughly 50/50. As banking integrates the technology into daily operations and models mature, the mix is shifting toward generative AI capabilities with customer-facing features, Mudit Gupta, partner and Americas financial services consulting practice AI lead at EY, said during the panel. 'You tend to start with productivity because it's low risk,' Gupta said. 'You establish proof points so that when you get further down the road of adoption, you can move on to transformation.' Technology executives from three global banks each put their own spin on Gupta's formulation. 'We are taking incremental steps to do something exponential,' Rohit Dhawan, director of AI and advanced analytics at Lloyds Banking Group, said. The bank is consolidating its AI efforts to move beyond individual use cases after bolstering its cloud-based data strategy earlier this year with Oracle's Azure-based database system and Exadata customer cloud data system. 'It's a very different mindset where you go from thinking about how to infuse or optimize a process with AI to fundamentally reimagining the process with AI,' Dhawan said. Generative AI use cases abound in banking. The technology has capabilities that reach across processes, from managing vast quantities of customer and compliance data for associates to assisting engineers in refactoring legacy applications. Banking executives expect generative AI to be capable of handling up to 40% of daily tasks by the end of the year, according to an April KPMG report. Nearly 3 in 5 of the 200 U.S. bank executives surveyed by the firm said the technology is integral to their long-term innovation plans. Until recently, NatWest Group was moving gradually with AI, measuring return on investment one use case at a time, the bank's Chief Data and Analytics Officer Zachery Anderson said during the panel. 'We've made a pretty big shift in the last eight months to start to reimagine pieces that really looked at customer experiences, in particular, and how we might rebuild those entirely from front to back,' he said. While AI assistants, such as Bank of America's Erica for Employees and Citi's Stylus document intelligence and Assist virtual assistant, are becoming commonplace, the breadth of the technology's capabilities is expanding as deployments increase. In September, JPMorgan Chase announced it would equip 140,000 employees with its LLM Suite AI assistant. 'Generative AI is going to impact every function within a bank — every single part of the job,' Accenture Global Banking Lead and Senior Managing Director Michael Abbott told CIO Dive in January, as automated agentic tools began to dominate the AI space. NatWest is leveraging two deployment pathways, Anderson said. 'We have a core set of data scientists, data engineers, that are working on the biggest, most difficult use cases,' he said. 'They're working on things that are at the edge of feasibility right now, because usually the models are improving so quickly, but by the time the project's done, what was at the edge before is now in the core of possibility.' At the same time, the bank is pushing AI into non-technical functions. In addition to giving the tools to developers, NatWest rolled out an internal AI tool to business users and a 'very large portion of the users in the bank,' said Anderson. 'The feasible edge of what you can do with the models and the agents right now is not only increasing, but it's also jagged,' Anderson said. 'Things you think you can do, you can't do, and things that you end up finding out that you can do surprise you sometimes … with all 70,000 of our employees exploring that edge, we're mapping out the frontier in a much faster way than we were before.' Truist has moved from quick wins to use cases that reach farther up the banking food chain. 'Extracting knowledge is the most popular use case,' Chandra Kapireddy, head of analytics, AI/ML and Gen AI at Truist, said. 'It's really low risk, the data is already out there, and it's high reward [because] it gets answers pretty quickly.' Answers communicate value to business users and help sustain momentum as AI use cases grow in complexity and cost. Early wins also provide IT executives with the political capital to engage in some necessary experimentation with the technology. 'If you try and aim for perfection, you're going to be spinning your wheels,' Kapireddy said. 'That's going to be very productive at the beginning of your use case life cycle. But as you start investing dollars in it, you have to make sure that business stakeholders know that it's going to have an impact.' 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South Wales Guardian
20-05-2025
- Climate
- South Wales Guardian
Met Office transfers to new supercomputer to boost UK forecast accuracy
Extreme weather events can also be predicted further in advance using the new technology, it said. Forecasters hope the computer will also help to advance climate research across the world. The supercomputer is operated by Microsoft's cloud-based system called Azure. The weather agency used its first supercomputer 60 years ago and until now, they have almost always been run on site. For more than a month, Azure was running off-site simultaneously with the Met Office's previous supercomputer, which has now been switched off. Charles Ewen, the Met Office's chief information officer, said: 'People ask how a bigger computer improves the weather forecast. 'One big thing this new computer will allow us to do in the near future is to be able to produce 14-day forecasts with a similar kind of accuracy than we can today for seven, eight, nine days.' Azure will allow the Met Office to start fresh projects without having to build new infrastructure, he added. He said: 'We use a technique to predict the future state of the atmosphere called numerical weather prediction. 'So that takes the laws of physics that are fairly well understood and applies them at scale to observations of the current state of the atmosphere. 'To do that is very, very computationally expensive. It's simulating the future state of the atmosphere. Operationally, that's 200 to 300 terabytes of information a day.' Segolene Berthou, who leads a team of researchers working on the Met Office's environmental prediction capabilities, said the supercomputer will permit researchers to run a model several times with slightly different parameters. 'That will give us quite a large variety of forecasts because of the chaotic nature of the atmosphere, and that can help us capture the extremes with more days in advance,' she explained. Ms Berthou added: 'The coupled system we're preparing is running faster and more smoothly on the new supercomputer. 'This is very good news because it means we can now be even more confident in our climate projections and have longer slices of time running this model.' A cloud system will make it easier for others to use the Met Office's backlog of data for climate research, the weather service said. Forecasters are also hoping Azure will allow them to adapt its use of artificial intelligence. They are not yet sure how the supercomputer will be augmented with machine learning. The Met Office has funded some of its researchers to start advanced degrees in machine learning and has offered a training programme on the subject. Simon Vosper, its science director, said: 'We have huge increases in capacity, which will enable us to take our science forward. 'With the new Azure-based capability, we'll be enhancing resolution, running many more models and introducing new scientific complexity.' The weather agency said: 'Met Office forecasts are used in aviation, defence, critical infrastructure, and shipping, as well as for predicting storms, floods, and gauging if Sunday will be suitable for a barbecue. 'The decision to entrust that critical work to an outside institution like Microsoft came only after a long process, informed by its own expertise in technology.'
Western Telegraph
20-05-2025
- Climate
- Western Telegraph
Met Office transfers to new supercomputer to boost UK forecast accuracy
Extreme weather events can also be predicted further in advance using the new technology, it said. Deckchairs in James's Park, London (Lucy North/PA) Forecasters hope the computer will also help to advance climate research across the world. The supercomputer is operated by Microsoft's cloud-based system called Azure. The weather agency used its first supercomputer 60 years ago and until now, they have almost always been run on site. For more than a month, Azure was running off-site simultaneously with the Met Office's previous supercomputer, which has now been switched off. Charles Ewen, the Met Office's chief information officer, said: 'People ask how a bigger computer improves the weather forecast. 'One big thing this new computer will allow us to do in the near future is to be able to produce 14-day forecasts with a similar kind of accuracy than we can today for seven, eight, nine days.' Azure will allow the Met Office to start fresh projects without having to build new infrastructure, he added. He said: 'We use a technique to predict the future state of the atmosphere called numerical weather prediction. 'So that takes the laws of physics that are fairly well understood and applies them at scale to observations of the current state of the atmosphere. 'To do that is very, very computationally expensive. It's simulating the future state of the atmosphere. Operationally, that's 200 to 300 terabytes of information a day.' Segolene Berthou, who leads a team of researchers working on the Met Office's environmental prediction capabilities, said the supercomputer will permit researchers to run a model several times with slightly different parameters. 'That will give us quite a large variety of forecasts because of the chaotic nature of the atmosphere, and that can help us capture the extremes with more days in advance,' she explained. Ms Berthou added: 'The coupled system we're preparing is running faster and more smoothly on the new supercomputer. 'This is very good news because it means we can now be even more confident in our climate projections and have longer slices of time running this model.' A cloud system will make it easier for others to use the Met Office's backlog of data for climate research, the weather service said. Forecasters are also hoping Azure will allow them to adapt its use of artificial intelligence. They are not yet sure how the supercomputer will be augmented with machine learning. The Met Office has funded some of its researchers to start advanced degrees in machine learning and has offered a training programme on the subject. Simon Vosper, its science director, said: 'We have huge increases in capacity, which will enable us to take our science forward. 'With the new Azure-based capability, we'll be enhancing resolution, running many more models and introducing new scientific complexity.' The weather agency said: 'Met Office forecasts are used in aviation, defence, critical infrastructure, and shipping, as well as for predicting storms, floods, and gauging if Sunday will be suitable for a barbecue. 'The decision to entrust that critical work to an outside institution like Microsoft came only after a long process, informed by its own expertise in technology.'
South Wales Argus
19-05-2025
- Climate
- South Wales Argus
Met Office transfers to new supercomputer to boost UK forecast accuracy
Extreme weather events can also be predicted further in advance using the new technology, it said. Deckchairs in James's Park, London (Lucy North/PA) Forecasters hope the computer will also help to advance climate research across the world. The supercomputer is operated by Microsoft's cloud-based system called Azure. The weather agency used its first supercomputer 60 years ago and until now, they have almost always been run on site. For more than a month, Azure was running off-site simultaneously with the Met Office's previous supercomputer, which has now been switched off. Charles Ewen, the Met Office's chief information officer, said: 'People ask how a bigger computer improves the weather forecast. 'One big thing this new computer will allow us to do in the near future is to be able to produce 14-day forecasts with a similar kind of accuracy than we can today for seven, eight, nine days.' Azure will allow the Met Office to start fresh projects without having to build new infrastructure, he added. He said: 'We use a technique to predict the future state of the atmosphere called numerical weather prediction. 'So that takes the laws of physics that are fairly well understood and applies them at scale to observations of the current state of the atmosphere. 'To do that is very, very computationally expensive. It's simulating the future state of the atmosphere. Operationally, that's 200 to 300 terabytes of information a day.' Segolene Berthou, who leads a team of researchers working on the Met Office's environmental prediction capabilities, said the supercomputer will permit researchers to run a model several times with slightly different parameters. 'That will give us quite a large variety of forecasts because of the chaotic nature of the atmosphere, and that can help us capture the extremes with more days in advance,' she explained. Ms Berthou added: 'The coupled system we're preparing is running faster and more smoothly on the new supercomputer. 'This is very good news because it means we can now be even more confident in our climate projections and have longer slices of time running this model.' A cloud system will make it easier for others to use the Met Office's backlog of data for climate research, the weather service said. Forecasters are also hoping Azure will allow them to adapt its use of artificial intelligence. They are not yet sure how the supercomputer will be augmented with machine learning. The Met Office has funded some of its researchers to start advanced degrees in machine learning and has offered a training programme on the subject. Simon Vosper, its science director, said: 'We have huge increases in capacity, which will enable us to take our science forward. 'With the new Azure-based capability, we'll be enhancing resolution, running many more models and introducing new scientific complexity.' The weather agency said: 'Met Office forecasts are used in aviation, defence, critical infrastructure, and shipping, as well as for predicting storms, floods, and gauging if Sunday will be suitable for a barbecue. 'The decision to entrust that critical work to an outside institution like Microsoft came only after a long process, informed by its own expertise in technology.'
Korea Herald
26-03-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
LG CNS showcases AI innovations at Microsoft's Seoul event
LG CNS said Wednesday it showcased groundbreaking generative artificial intelligence applications across various industries at the Microsoft AI Tour in Seoul earlier in the day. At its showroom, the IT solutions provider showcased solutions that leverage Microsoft Copilot to enhance workplace efficiency. The company also introduced consulting programs and shared case studies of its AI-driven intelligent search services of manufacturing enterprises using Microsoft Azure Cloud. The Azure-based intelligent search service enables employees to input queries during work processes, with generative AI analyzing product design manuals and past cases to deliver the most optimal responses. Among the showcased services powered by Microsoft 365 Copilot were tools for scheduling and meeting minutes management, proposal and market analysis report generation, and manual and training material development. To strengthen collaboration with Microsoft, LG CNS recently established the MS Launch Center, a dedicated task force comprising Azure Cloud architects and AI and application experts. Additionally, the two firms jointly operate the Innovation Journey Workshop program, which supports enterprises in exploring generative AI adoption through prototype development and preimplementation validation. "By deepening our collaboration with Microsoft, we will continue to discover new technologies and services that drive customer value innovation. Our goal is to position ourselves as an AI transformation specialist, delivering the fastest and most relevant AI solutions,' said Kim Tae-hoon, head of the AI cloud business division at LG CNS. Meanwhile, Microsoft's AI Tour spans 60 cities worldwide, offering key insights and technological advancements in AI innovation. The Seoul event focused on business transformation through AI and strategies for sustainable value creation.
