Lloyds Bank appoints AI director, aims to boost tech team with 1,500 new hires

Financial pressures hit Lloyds with a 28 per cent drop in net interest income.

New AI director aims to enhance Lloyds' strategic integration of AI capabilities.

The London-listed bank, Lloyds Banking Group, has appointed Rohit Dhawan, a former executive at Amazon Web Services (AWS), as its first group director of AI and analytics. With a PhD in AI from the University of Sydney, Dhawan previously led data and AI strategy for AWS across the Asia-Pacific region, where he played a key role in implementing AI in customer and operational processes.

Rohit’s arrival marks a significant step in Lloyds’ ambition to embed AI deeply into its operations. Ranil Boteju, the bank’s chief data and analytics officer, highlighted Dhawan’s extensive experience in delivering technology-driven change at scale and speed. The new director is expected to enhance AI outcomes across various business priorities, ensuring a consistent and strategic integration of AI capabilities.

This appointment is part of Lloyds’ broader push to bolster its technology and data teams. So far in 2024, the bank has hired around 1,500 specialists, bringing the total to over 4,000 new recruits in the last two and a half years. Dhawan expressed his enthusiasm for advancing Lloyds’ ambitious AI strategy, aligning it with the Group’s goal to help Britain prosper.

Despite these strategic advancements, Lloyds has faced financial challenges. The bank reported a 28 per cent drop in net interest income for the first quarter of 2024, primarily due to higher operating costs and peaking interest rates. This resulted in a pre-tax profit of £1.63 billion, consistent with forecasts. Additionally, Lloyds’ shares fell by 2.64 per cent to 53.88p in early afternoon trading on Monday.