London-headquartered Standard Chartered has signed a deal with Alibaba Cloud to accelerate its roll out of AI technologies.

The partnership will involve developing AI-powered customer service and sales intelligence to improve customer engagement, automating AI-driven risk management and compliance, and upskilling its workforce through AI workshops and certifications.

The bank said that partnership will help it “elevate its competitive edge”, with the technology set to boost operational efficiency and the customer experience.

“We are investing heavily in cutting-edge technologies like AI, which are transforming our own business model and reshaping the future of finance," said Bill Winters, group chief executive of Standard Chartered. "I am excited to build on our existing relationship with Alibaba Group – a global leader in AI and other areas including e-commerce and retail – and advance our shared commitment to transformative innovation."

As part of the deal, Standard Chartered will also provide a range banking services for Alibaba Group, including financial support, supply chain financing support, and cross border fund management solutions.

The move is not the only AI-driven rollout for the organisation in recent months, with the bank launching a new workforce genAI tool across 41 markets in March.

The tool, which is being rolled out to more than 70,000 employees around the world, aims to improve productivity and operations, as well as tailor sales and marketing efforts to boost revenue.

The technology, called SC GPT, also aims to advance software engineering with more automation and "scale how risks are measured, managed, recorded and reported."

In February, Standard Chartered also unveiled an AI-powered video column in February for clients in Asia to provide better insights on the foreign exchange market.

The bank has also recently made several AI-related hires as part of its commitment to using the technology to drive innovation and maintain its competitive edge in the financial services industry.

In June, the company appointed Yusuf Demiral as global head of wealth and retail banking (WRB) data, analytics and AI.

In April, David Hardoon became global head of artificial intelligence (AI) enablement, a role which overseas the development of robust AI capabilities and governance within the Chief Data Office.

---