HSBC appoints first chief AI officer

HSBC has appointed David ⁠Rice ⁠as its first chief AI officer, the British bank said, as it seeks to cut costs ‌and improve performance by increasing ‌the ‌use of generative AI ‌technology across its businesses ⁠worldwide.

HSBC CEO Georges Elhedery has highlighted AI as the key to the bank's wider strategic goal of increasing its return ​on tangible equity to above 17 percent for 2026-2028, via savings ⁠from automating and streamlining its processes. 

Rice was previously the chief operating officer for HSBC’s corporate and institutional banking business.

Banks worldwide are trying to harness AI to improve tasks such as coding, fraud detection, and credit applications.

"If you ask me ​where is the biggest investment ⁠going intonew technology today, ⁠it is definitely going into generative AI," Elhedery told investors on ​a conference call on February 25.

*Having ‌a formal ⁠head of AI is relatively unusual for big global banks. Many rivals make AI responsibilities part of ‌a chief technology officer's wider remit.

HSBC has not disclosed how many jobs it may cut as aresult of AI ​improvements.

Bloomberg News reported earlier this month the bank could ultimately shed 20,000 roles, saying the plans were at ‌an early ⁠stage and ​no decisions had been taken.