HSBC is launching an artificial intelligence (AI) centre of excellence in Singapore, with a plan to recruit 100 AI specialists.
The bank, like its competitors, has stepped up activity around AI. It appointed its first AI chief in March and recently signed a major AI-focused deal with Google Cloud.
In the second half of this year, it will begin developing AI capabilities in the centre, which can will be rolled out globally. Around 100 new roles will be created in the team of chief AI officer David Rice.
The bank announced Rice as its first AI chief as part of its wider plans to embed the technology across the company. He moved from his role as chief operating officer at the bank’s corporate and institutional bank.
Through the new centre, HSBC will focus on supporting staff in using AI to deliver customer services.
Georges Elhedery, group CEO at HSBC, said: “The new AI Centre of Excellence in Singapore will help drive our global AI vision – to empower our colleagues to use AI to create a personalised experience for each customer, deliver it safely, in real time and at scale, while keeping human judgement, decision-making and accountability at the core.”
The centre will kick-off with a focus on customer wealth journey conversations, agentic treasury functionality and AI-enabled digital payments.
In addition, the centre of excellence will build a pipeline of talent across natural language processing, data science, AI governance and human-centred design. As part of this, it will work with educational institutions and government bodies in Singapore.
Ramping up AI
Last month, HSBC announced plans to create more than 200 AI use cases across its business through a deal with Google Cloud, and it expects to make hundreds of millions of pounds in revenue and efficiency gains as a result.
The bank already had around 600 applications running on the Google Cloud service, but the new arrangement will see more than 200 AI use cases added in the next two years. It said it will prioritise the highest-value initiatives, where estimated value exceeds $100m.
As part of the agreement, HSBC will harness the skills of Google Cloud and Google DeepMind engineers, gaining access to Google’s agentic AI capabilities. Areas initially being focused on include highly personalising customer experience through AI, using the technology to manage financial crime risk and expanding the reach of an AI agent used by staff.
Banks are doubling down on AI, with HSBC the UK’s leader of the technology’s adoption. According to Evident’s Banking AI adoption index, which tracks financial services AI adoption, HSBC was the only UK bank in the top 10.
Banks can save huge amounts in operating costs through AI, but they must use it to improve customer experiences and offerings or face reduced profits. According to McKinsey’s latest report, while AI savings could be up to 20%, taking account of the cost of the technology, banking industry profits could fall 9% as customers move money based on AI agent recommendations.
“The impact of savings, while welcome, won’t last,” McKinsey said. “As with earlier innovations, competition will likely erode the gains for banks and most of the benefits will accrue to customers over time.”
According to Lloyds Banking Group’s Financial institutions sentiment survey for 2025 banks are gaining huge benefits from AI, stating that 59% of surveyed firms reported AI-driven productivity gains in the past 12 months, compared with 32% in the 2024 survey.
