HSBC has been announced as one of the first banks to join an early adopter programme for a new genAI technology suite.

The new suite from Quantexa combines an existing decision intelligence platform with genAI through a data integration layer, prompt builder, and copilot technology.

The bank aims to use the new technology for a number of tasks, including streamlining analysis, investigation and reporting tasks and reducing reliance on data science teams for ad-hoc data requests.

Additionally, it aims to give customer-facing teams more data and insights to improve experiences and “increase revenue”.

HSBC says that democratising analytics and accelerating processes across these areas could lead to productivity gains within the first year of deployment.

“This new solution has the potential to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of complex tasks such as anti-money laundering investigations and sales strategies by providing trusted data and contextual analytics," said David Rice, global chief operating officer, commercial banking, HSBC. "The introduction of contextual analytics and innovation will enable HSBC to concentrate our resources more productively and ultimately help our customers.”

BNY Mellon is also evaluating joining HSBC in the early adopter programme.

"The next phase in our innovation efforts will see us exploring the potential of enabling frontline workers across the bank to use genAI to act on the data insights confidently and reach new levels of efficiency in the process," said Eric Hirschhorn, chief data officer, BNY Mellon.

The news comes days after US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen warned that while artificial intelligence (AI) in finance could reduce transaction costs, it also carries "significant risks".

The speech highlighted specific vulnerabilities that may stem from the complexity and opacity of AI models, inadequate risk management frameworks, and interconnections that arise as many market participants rely on the same data and models.

Additionally, concentration among vendors developing AI models and providing data and cloud services may introduce risks that could amplify existing third-party service provider risks. Yellen also warns that insufficient or faulty data could perpetuate or introduce new biases in financial decision-making.

The chief information officer (CIO) of Deutsche Bank’s corporate arm recently said that BigTech is necessary to facilitate the compute needed to run large-scale AI models in financial services.

During a panel about AI and the future of technology at Money 2020 in Amsterdam, Joanne Hannaford, CIO and chief product officer (CPO) at Deutsche Bank’s corporate bank said that it is hard to imagine an organisation that would not look to BigTech to support the development far-reaching genAI systems.

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