Lloyds Banking Group has appointed Rohit Dhawan as Director of AI. He will report to Ranil Boteju, the Group’s Chief Data and Analytics Officer.

In this newly established role, Rohit will lead the Group’s AI Centre of Excellence , bringing together experts in Data Science, Behavioral Science, ML Engineering, Advanced Analytics and AI Ethics. He will be responsible for shaping the overall AI, ML and advanced analytics strategy, driving technical excellence, and promoting the adoption of AI enabled products and services to enhance and transform the experience for the Group’s 27 million customers. 

Under Rohit’s leadership, the AI Centre of Excellence will progress our commitment to attracting and retaining leading AI and Ethics talent within the UK, adding to its growing team of industry recognised experts, including a dedicated team of over 30 PhDs in key disciplines. Lloyds Banking Group will also continue its focus on nurturing early careers in AI and Data science through our data science graduate programme, one of the largest in the UK. 

An industry veteran, Rohit holds a PhD in artificial intelligence from the University of Sydney. He joins from Amazon Web Services, where he served as the Head of Data and AI Strategy across the Asia-Pacific region. In this role he spearheaded a number of strategic developments, including the integration of AI into customer and operational processes and establishing a multi-disciplinary data and AI function.

Ranil Boteju, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Lloyds Banking Group said: “I’m delighted to welcome Rohit Dhawan as our new Director of AI and Advanced Analytics. Rohit’s appointment is a significant boost for the strategic development of AI technology and capabilities within Lloyds Banking Group, with his wealth of experience delivering 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.”

Rohit Dhawan, Director of AI and Advanced Analytics at Lloyds Banking Group added: “It’s a privilege to join Lloyds Banking Group, and I’m excited to work for an organisation undergoing one of the largest transformations in financial services and look at how we can transform the way we use data and tech to respond to changing customer needs. I’m looking forward to progressing the Group’s ambitious AI strategy and maximising opportunities across the organisation as part of the Group’s purpose to help Britain prosper.”

As part of Lloyds Banking Group’s strategy announced in February 2022, it has committed to accelerate the pace at which it uses digital technologies and data to support its customers. So far this year the Group has recruited another 1,500 technology and data specialists, taking the total to more than 4,000 over the past two and a half years. 

The integration of AI and analytics across the Group will improve the overall customer experience. The Group is currently trailing over 50 use cases including increasing the speed of support, quality of chatbot tools and detecting early warning signs of fraud.