The government has appointed two ‘AI Champions’ from the banking industry to oversee the safe adoption of the technology into financial services.
Harriet Rees, group chief information officer at Starling Bank and Dr Rohit Dhawan, chief data and analytics officer at Lloyds Banking Group have been selected to support the industry’s transition to an approach powered by AI.
According to figures from the Treasury, around three-quarters of UK finance firms already use the technology, which the government has encouraged as a way to boost economic output.
The newly appointed champions have been tasked with applying their experience in financial technology to help firms properly adopt AI whilst maintaining a sense of safety and security.
“Being appointed AI Champion for Financial Services is an exciting opportunity as the sector faces a pivotal moment to become a world leader in AI,” commented Rees.
“I look forward to working with HM Treasury and the industry to create a world-class ecosystem in which innovation exceeds customers’ expectations and the transformative power of AI unlocks growth. In turn, this will reinforce the UK’s status as the world’s most technologically advanced financial centre.”
Rees was appointed to lead Starling’s data science team back in 2018 and eventually rose to the rank of chief information officer in 2022.
Dhawan, who before joining Lloyds spent years working in high-level AI strategy for the likes of AWS and Accenture, said: “AI has the potential to reshape the industry and at Lloyds Banking Group we are already seeing how thoughtful and responsible adoption of AI can transform customer experience and the way a large organisation operates.”
The two champions will report directly to Economic Secretary Lucy Rigby.
“Harriet and Rohit bring deep, real-world experience of deploying AI safely at scale, and they will help turn rapid adoption into practical delivery – unlocking growth while keeping our financial system secure and resilient,” Rigby said.
