Driving customer centricity through AI, Digital and Data
Generic customer recommendations will soon become a thing of the past at OCBC. We will harness artificial intelligence (AI), Digital and Data holistically and not just focus on AI to deliver excellent customer experiences.
A.I. Oscar – Singapore's first AI-powered stock picking tool that delivers personalised stock ideas to OCBC customers – and HOLMES AI, which supports Bank of Singapore’s relationship managers with tailored investment insights and multi-asset strategies, are just two ways we have used AI to customise our solutions.
As part of the Tech Shift in our new corporate strategy, we will continue to transform and innovate via AI, Digital and Data to power customer centricity as we entrench a strong AI-Digital-Data culture.
How we meld AI, Digital and Data with people to best serve our customers and acquire new ones will be at the core of our business. This will significantly strengthen our contextual marketing propositions, guided by Three Rs: Reaching the Right Customer, offering the Right Product, and doing so at the Right Time.
While we encourage a level of experimentation, we will leverage AI, Digital and Data to extract value in generating revenue and cost savings through productivity gains. That is, they will be fit-for-purpose.
Through continuous upskilling, internal gig opportunities and job redesign over the years, we have empowered our workforce to build a digital-first mindset in the early days and now an AI-Digital-Data-first approach. This has enabled them to embrace change and step into higher-value roles.
In the past three years, around three in five employees have participated in training programmes related to AI, Digital and Data. We recognise that the value of these capabilities does not reside solely with the developers and creators, but also with a workforce capable of applying them across the bank.
Pushing the Envelope with Agentic AI
We have rapidly adopted generative AI in recent years, deploying in-house tools that have delivered significant productivity gains. In 2025, we advanced these capabilities by introducing agentic AI into our Know-Your-Customer (KYC) processes, shifting from AI as an assistant to AI that can autonomously execute tasks within governed boundaries.
Bank of Singapore's Source of Wealth Assistant represents this next stage. The agentic AI solution builds on our earlier investments in traditional and generative AI. Embedded directly into KYC workflows, the AI “agent” independently initiates and coordinates tasks such as extracting, structuring and synthesising information across customer records and supporting documents, identifying data gaps and prompting targeted follow-ups needed for assessment completion.
Leveraging past inputs, the agent continually refines its behaviour and outputs, improving accuracy and consistency beyond what traditional models can do. Tasks that once took up to 10 days can now be completed in about an hour, significantly reducing manual effort and enabling a more seamless customer onboarding and review experience.
Importantly, the solution operates with human-in-the-loop controls. Relationship managers and compliance teams retain responsibility for judgment and final approval, ensuring accountability, regulatory compliance and greater capacity for higher-value customer engagement.
Humanising AI, Digital and Data
While AI, Digital and Data hold immense promise and the potential to reshape entire industries, they also present a double-edged sword. Many of today’s roles may evolve or even disappear as automation accelerates. To remain relevant and resilient, individuals and organisations alike must continuously acquire new skills and adapt.
This is why our approach is grounded in redesigning work around people. Across the Group, many teams are already taking the initiative to explore how AI, Digital and Data can help them perform their roles more effectively.
As an organisation, we have made deliberate and consistent efforts to build a digital-first mindset, redesigning jobs front-to-back and embedding AI, Digital and Data into our processes, with humans in the loop to focus on higher-value tasks.
Every role is a digitally enabled role at OCBC. Our AI Learning Framework is a cornerstone of this effort, designed to build organisation-wide capability by supporting employees at every stage of their AI adoption journey.
‘AI for All’ builds foundational AI literacy across the workforce, demystifying AI and helping employees understand its underlying mechanics rather than simply following trends.
For employees who require deeper technical expertise to support business problem-solving, ‘AI for Practitioners’ builds advanced capability through a structured Data Certification Pathway. This comprises two tracks: a 17-week Data Analytics Skills Track focused on core analytics competencies, and a 22-week Data Science and Agentic AI Skills Track that incorporates generative and agentic AI applications.
Complementing this, ‘AI for Leaders’ equips leaders to navigate the strategic, organisational, and ethical implications of emerging technologies, covering topics such as AI strategy, responsible AI, leading in an AI-enabled environment, influencing skills and systems thinking.
To further strengthen our data capabilities, programmes such as Data Storytelling for Business and Data Visualisation equip employees with the skills to build insightful dashboards and communicate data-driven insights effectively.
Together, these initiatives ensure our people are not only digitally aware, but also confident and responsible in applying AI and data analytics to drive meaningful business impact.
Impactful Use Cases of AI, Digital and Data
AI Copilot for Corporate Relationship Managers (RMs)
Generates ESG, financial and industry analysis for RMs reviewing lengthy and unstructured documents during credit assessment, reducing preparation time by up to 30%
In-app Call Capabilities on OCBC Apps
Strengthens protection against fraud by ensuring that calls take place in a secure, authenticated channel, with average call handling time about 10% faster
Next-Generation Agentic Code Assistance Tool for Engineers
Helps engineering teams build digital solutions faster by generating code and automating routine tasks, delivering up to 30% productivity gains and reducing operational risk
Opening of OCBC Malaysia Online Bank Account Using Singpass
Simplifies and speeds up online business banking account opening verification process for Singaporean directors of Malaysia-incorporated companies, by using Singpass authentication
Tokenised Bonds on OCBC's Asset Tokenisation Platform
Enables corporate accredited investors to have fractional ownership of corporate bonds, facilitating more diversified portfolios and liquidity requirements