ANZ hires its first AI officer as banks rush to bolster tech ranks

ANZ Group Holdings has hired its first chief data and AI officer, as competition over artificial intelligence talent intensifies among big banks around the world.

Kai Yang will join ANZ in Sydney in July after relocating from Hong Kong where he worked as HSBC Holdings Plc’s chief data and analytics officer for Asia and the Middle East.

Yang is the latest senior hire from HSBC, where ANZ chief executive officer Nuno Matos worked prior to joining the Melbourne-based bank last year. 

A spokesperson for ANZ confirmed Yang’s hire, while a HSBC spokesperson said Yang left to pursue opportunities outside the firm for family reasons. 

Yang returns to Australia after around six years with HSBC. Before that, he worked in Sydney with Commonwealth Bank of Australia for more than 15 years in a series of senior technology and risk roles, including group chief data officer, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Big banks globally are rushing to bolster their tech ranks as they look to incorporate AI across numerous areas from loan underwriting to trading and marketing.

Yang’s move comes amid fierce competition for top talent and follows last year’s move by Westpac to hire Andrew McMullan as chief data, digital and AI officer from CBA.

Yang is expected to lead ANZ’s enterprise-wide data and AI agenda and strengthen governance and controls. He will report to group chief information officer Donald Patra, another former HSBC executive who joined the bank last year.

Capital Brief earlier reported Yang’s move. 

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Meantime, Matos also updated the firm’s values in a memo to staff this week, the latest move to drive cultural change within the organisation. He’s approaching one year in the job and has sought to improve shareholder returns and poor culture that plagued his predecessor, Shayne Elliott.

“We must no longer accept a good news culture where problems are not raised early,” Matos wrote. In putting customers first, he added “we need to keep things clear and simple and act early – and with urgency – if something could cause harm.” REUTERS