The Standard Bank Group recently appointed J\u00f6rg Fischer as Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, in addition to his role as Group Chief Information Officer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The appointment reinforces the Group\u2019s strategic focus on AI and its belief that AI will be a critical driver of future competitiveness, growth, and value creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAI is not optional, it touches every part of our business\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Margaret Nienaber, Chief Operating Officer of Standard Bank Group, says: \u201cOur ambition is clear: to become Africa\u2019s pioneering AI financial services organisation. This recognition from Evident confirms that we are making meaningful progress on that journey. AI is not optional; it will fundamentally change how clients interact with us, how work gets done, and how value is created. We are elevating AI from a short-term productivity lever to a long-term competitive capability across all four of our business units. We are embedding AI across the Standard Bank Group to improve client experiences, enable our people and create market-leading sustainable value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Standard Bank Group\u2019s pioneering approach is underpinned by creating a culture of adoption and shifting from the light-touch use of AI tools to AI-enabled work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 20,000 of our colleagues are already active AI users, and we continue to invest in the skills, capabilities and culture required to help our people win in an AI-enabled future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our AI activities are underpinned by a powerful technology platform built on scaled cloud infrastructure and governed through a responsible AI framework. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While we are excited about AI\u2019s potential, we recognise the risks it presents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We continue to invest in the governance, guardrails, security, controls and human oversight required to ensure AI is deployed safely, responsibly and in line with our values. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
AI development is governed at the most senior level: it is a CEO-owned agenda, supported by a dedicated Chief AI Officer and cross-functional specialists embedded across the Group\u2019s business units.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nMargaret Nienaber, Chief Operating Officer of Standard Bank Group<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n J\u00f6rg Fischer, Standard Bank Group Chief Information Officer and newly appointed Chief AI Officer, says the Group\u2019s choices is built for optionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur AI strategy is not an \u2018or\u2019 strategy, it is an \u2018and\u2019 strategy,\u201d says Fischer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPartnering with leading global hyperscalers and adopting an open architecture across best-in-class both open and closed AI models allows us to retain the flexibility to access innovation from both the East and the West. This optionality allows us to move faster and adapt as the technology evolves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Evident AI Index is widely regarded as one of the leading independent benchmarks of AI maturity in banking globally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Having established itself across major banking markets in North America and Europe, the Index this year expanded to include 25 banks across the Middle East and Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The survey assesses banks across four dimensions: talent, innovation, leadership and transparency.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAn \u2018and\u2019 strategy, not an \u2018or\u2019 strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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