Lloyds Banking Group is training 200 of its senior leaders to ensure the organisation can get the most out of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The bank is working with training provider Cambridge Spark on the programme, which will embed AI skills in the leadership ranks.
Participants of the programme will receive training in an 80-hour programme, known as Leading with AI, delivered by Cambridge Spark alongside experts from Cambridge University.
Ron van Kemenade, chief operating officer at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “AI is a game-changer for financial services, and we’re investing to enhance our services with cutting-edge technology. The programme with Cambridge Spark will empower our business leaders to further innovate with AI and drive commercial excellence using this transformative technology.
“Our approach to AI is based on integrating it deeply throughout every aspect of our business rather than limiting it to a centralised technical team. We’re building on our existing expertise to develop the most AI-capable leadership team in banking.”
Lloyds Bank has also made investments in AI training beyond senior leaders with a Data & AI Academy, GenAI Masterclasses and a Data & AI Summer School available to all its employees. It has worked with Cambridge Spark before on a graduate bootcamp focused on practical industry skills for emerging data scientists and data engineers.
Leading on AI
For the senior leaders, the Leading with AI programme will focus on areas including identifying transformational opportunities for AI and spearheading its implementation.
Raoul-Gabriel Urma, CEO at Cambridge Spark, said that embedding AI know-how at the top of organisations is vital: “Advancing AI capabilities represents both the greatest challenge and opportunity for today’s businesses. Enhancing these capabilities in senior leadership creates a powerful multiplier effect that drives innovation throughout the organisation.”
The Bank of England and the FCA have been tracking how financial services firms in the UK are using AI and machine learning. The results of its recent survey, which covered 120 firms, found that three-quarters are already using some form of AI in their operations. This included all the large UK and international banks, insurers and asset managers that responded, and represented a 53% increase on the same survey in 2022.
There will be challenges for senior bank leaders who must understand the risks that AI poses as well as its benefits, as they will be expected to work within regulatory regimes.
During an international financial conference in October, Sarah Breeden, deputy governor of financial stability at the Bank of England, said that regulation must stay ahead of AI take-up.
She said this will “help us to understand more deeply not only AI’s potential benefits, but also the different approaches firms are taking to managing those risks which could amount to financial stability risks”.
The regulator will then try to spread best practices and decide when regulatory guidelines and guardrails are needed. “The power and use of AI is growing fast, and we mustn’t be complacent,” said Breeden. “We know from past experience with technological innovation in other sectors of the economy that it’s hard to retrospectively address risks once usage reaches systemic scale.”
