CEO of Southeast Asia’s top bank DBS says AI implementation is already yielding results

SINGAPORE – Amid fears of an artificial intelligence bubble, a recent report has made headlines suggesting that AI is yet to bring benefits to companies that have invested billions of dollars in implementing AI technology.

But that’s not what the chief executive of Southeast Asia’s largest bank sees. Her company is already reaping the fruits of its AI efforts, and she says that’s just the beginning.

“It’s not a wish. It’s now. It’s already happening. And it’s going to get better,” DBS CEO Tan Hsu Hsiang told CNBC when asked about the promise of AI on the sidelines of Singapore FinTech Week.

DBS has been working to bring artificial intelligence across the bank for more than a decade. This helped prepare internal data analytics for the recent wave of generative and agent AI.

Agentic AI is a type of artificial intelligence that relies on data to make proactive, independent decisions and plan and execute tasks autonomously, with minimal human oversight.

Tan expects the introduction of AI to increase overall DBS revenue by more than S$1 billion (approximately $768 million) this year, compared to S$750 million in 2024. The assessment is based on approximately 370 AI use cases leveraging more than 1,500 models across the company’s businesses.

“The proliferation of generative AI has been transformative for us,” Tan said, adding that the company is experiencing a “snowball effect” of benefits thanks to machine learning.

The main area where DBS has applied AI is in institutional financial services, where it is used to collect and leverage data for customers to better contextualize and personalize offerings.

According to Tan, this has created a team that is “faster and more resilient”. The CEO believes that this use of AI has contributed to the bank’s recent increase in deposit growth compared to its competitors.

The company recently launched a new enhanced AI-powered assistant for corporate customers known as ‘DBS Joy’ to assist customers with their unique corporate banking questions 24 hours a day.

Despite Tan’s strong belief in AI, recent evidence suggests that many companies are struggling to turn their AI investments into tangible returns.

In a July report, MIT found that 95% of 300 announced AI initiatives, including $30 billion to $40 billion in generative AI investments, failed to achieve real returns.

But there are signs that the tide is turning, at least in the banking sector.

While DBS does not distinguish between spending on generative AI and other internal investments, other large banks have recently provided this comparison.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said in an interview with Bloomberg TV last month that the bank is already breaking even on its roughly $2 billion annual investment in AI implementation. This is just the “tip of the iceberg,” he added.

DBS shares these expectations and plans to continue accelerating its AI development to become an AI-powered bank.

The ultimate goal, Tan said, is for the AI ​​it generates to grow into a trusted financial advisor for customers, including retail users, who are expected to interact with a personalized AI agent through the DBS Banking app.

The bank already has more than 100 AI algorithms that analyze users’ data to provide personalized “nudges” such as notifications of shortages, product recommendations, and other insights.

Mr Tan acknowledged that while DBS may already be benefiting from AI implementation, it will need to continue to invest not only capital but also the time required to reskill employees.

The company launched several AI reskilling initiatives across its divisions this year and also introduced AI-powered generative coaching tools to support these efforts.

This will allow the company to automate routine tasks and refocus employees on building and maintaining relationships with customers, rather than reducing headcount, Tan said.

“It doesn’t mean freezing hiring, but it does mean reskilling. And it’s a journey. It’s a never-ending journey, a constant evolution.”