CBA uses Atlassian tool to stay focused on $400m AI goal

CBA's Helen Lau (right) speaks at Atlassian Teams 26 Europe.

CBA is using a ‘collection’ of strategy and planning tools made by Atlassian to keep teams across the organisation focused on achieving its ambitious AI goals and leaders abreast of progress.

Engineering platform general manager Helen Lau told Atlassian’s Teams 26 Europe conference late last week that the bank is live with what Atlassian calls its ‘Strategy Collection’.

This is essentially three different tools that, together, form what is marketed as a ‘strategic portfolio management’ suite.

In more simple terms, it acts as a “connected operating model” for CBA: essentially a way to keep leaders and teams alike coordinated on large-scale program delivery, with topline priorities linked directly to daily work streams, and appropriate resourcing and capacity able to be assigned.

In CBA’s case, the large-scale program delivery targeted for oversight and execution is its “ambitious goal to be a world leader in the AI banking sector.”

In the most recent financial year, CBA “banked about $200m of AI benefits,” Lau said.

“This financial year we’re aiming for $400m,” she said. “That’s our goal.”

‘Strategy Collection’ is how CBA is maintaining a “shared vision” to reach that goal, transparently showing how the goal “rolls down” into team actions, and how those actions, in turn, “roll up” to contribute to that topline goal.

“If you have that in front of you, you’re saying, ‘I need to build an awesome product and service for my customer. At the same time, I need to deliver this value’. [It means] you need to think of how you do your job best, basically.”

The bank initially attempted to implement Strategy Collection in September last year, with a proof-of-concept in two internal departments.

But eight weeks into a planned 12-week proof, Lau elected to cut it short.

“[Both] organisations, Atlassian and CBA, weren't ready to roll this out group-wide, so we stopped,” she said.

The two organisations have a history of working together spanning almost two decades.

When CBA migrated its on-premises Jira and Confluence to cloud-based versions four years back, it worked closely with Atlassian to introduce 22 product features to cater to the bank’s needs, 

The two revived that collaborative approach to ensure the bank’s second attempt at implementing 'Strategy Collection' was successful.

“We attempted this in March, [and it took] six weeks,” Lau said.

“In six weeks we migrated over 9000 goals [into 'Strategy Collection'] and trained all our top 20 percent of the organisation, this is up to the C-Level, how to use the tool.”

Lau added that AI is fast becoming part of the bank’s DNA.

“We’ve been using and embedding AI everywhere in our business, from customer experience to fraud and scam [detection and prevention], to financial crime to cyber, and now in my own backyard [where] productivity is what’s close to my heart,” she said.