Lloyds Banking Group hires an AWS executive as its first director of AI and analytics

Lloyds Banking Group recently hired a new lead for its AI and analytics unit. The role was filled by Rohit Dhawan, who is also an executive at Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Lloyds has hired a leader for the new AI and analytics unit

Rohit Dhawan became the new lead for the UK bank’s AI Centre of Excellence. At his new position, he will lead experts in data science, ML engineering, behavioral science, AI ethics, and advanced analytics.

The bank brought together experts from all fields, while Dhawan will be responsible for shaping the overall AI, Machine Learning (ML), and advanced analytics strategy. As part of his new duties, he will also be in charge of promoting the adoption of AI-enabled products and services.

With Lloyds currently having over 27 million customers, there is a large user base for Dhawan to promote AI products and services to. He is also the best person for the job, given that he holds a Ph.D in artificial intelligence from the University of Sydney.

He also has plenty of experience from his time at AWS, where he served as the head of data and AI strategy for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. While working for AWS, he led numerous strategic developments, such as the integration of Artificial Intelligence into customer and operational processes. He was also responsible for establishing a multi-disciplinary data and AI function.

Commenting on Lloyds’ decision to hire Dhawan, the bank’s chief data and analytics officer, Ranil Boteju, said that Rohit’s appointment is a significant boost for the strategic development of AI technology and capabilities within Lloyds Banking Group.

Boteju added that Rohit has a wealth of experience when it comes to delivering both technology and change, at pace and scale. “Rohit will work across the business to further integrate AI outcomes into business priorities, helping us to scale AI in a consistent way and deliver against our strategy,” Boteju concluded.

Lloyds is boosting its tech team

Right now, Lloyds Banking Group is trailing more than 50 different use cases for Artificial Intelligence across the business. This includes growing the speed of support, detecting early signs of fraud, and increasing the quality of chatbot tools.

The bank has also worked on increasing its technical team, hiring over 1,500 technology and data specialists. With this addition, it increased the total to over 4,000 employees hired in the past two and a half years.

Dhawan himself commented on his decision to join Lloyds, saying that he is excited to work for an organization that is undergoing one of the largest transformations in financial services. He is also excited to see how the unit he will lead can help transform the way data and technology are being used, and how they can be improved to respond to changing customer needs.