HSBC appoints first chief AI officer as it seeks cost cuts

LONDON: HSBC has appointed David Rice as its first chief AI officer, the British bank said on Monday, 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% 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 into new 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.