Banking transformation in action: DBS Bank
DBS Bank in Singapore presented the incredible transformation work they have accomplished.
As part of the Qorus-Infosys Finacle Banking Innovation Awards 2026, we selected a few of the banks whose projects impressed us the most. Among them, DBS Bank in Singapore presented the incredible transformation work they have accomplished.
What transformation strategy has your organization led in recent years?
[AI-Enabled Bank with a Heart]
We believe that embracing Gen AI has the potential to benefit not only our customers and employees but also society at large, aligning with our commitment to help people “Live more, Bank less”. Against this backdrop, we sharpened our strategic focus to become an AI-Enabled Bank with a Heart (AIEBH).
Building on our award-winning Data & AI Industrialisation Programme, our vision leverages AI as a foundational element to implement transformative initiatives across the enterprise.
This transition is underpinned by our concept of Authentic Intelligence, where AI augments and elevates human capabilities rather than replace them, alongside newly implemented Operating Model Transformations (OMTs) (See Q4).
In 2025, this commitment enabled DBS to significantly scale AI adoption significantly, with >2,000 models and >430 use cases across the bank, generating ~SGD 1 billion in economic value from our AI/ML and data analytics initiatives.
What prompted this strategic transformation?
Our people remain at the heart of our transformation. As we tap new AI technologies a key challenge was to move beyond AI as a sophisticated tool, to AI as an intelligent, collaborative partner, while still maintaining human empathy and ethical governance at its core.
Goals – 3 key tenets:
• Being AI to the core: scaling AI across the bank to drive efficiencies and sustained value
• Leveraging AI to amplify our “One Bank” value proposition: leveraging AI at scale to seamlessly connect data, insights & capabilities, enabling us to serve customers as One Bank
• Being human-centric in our AI approach: blending the best of machine capabilities with human empathy while upskilling out workforce
What have been the most significant changes implemented, and how were they led?
Our journey into the Agentic Era builds upon a decade of AI Industrialisation, anchored by a tiered enterprise AI framework for scale & responsible deployment.
• Foundational Enablers:
- ADA - platform remains the bedrock, housing ~7 petabytes of data. It is an internal, self-service platform functioning as a single source of truth to ensure data governance, discoverability, quality, and security.
- PURE Framework – Responsible data use framework called PURE, to ensure that data must be Purposeful, Unsurprising, Respectful, and explainable for our customers. All DBS use cases and models must meet the criteria of this framework before deployment.
• Horizontal Capabilities – AI for Every Employee:
- DBS-GPT is availed to all employees in our core markets, providing role-based access to over four million DBS documents. Over 70% of our employees are actively using DBS-GPT, generating more than a million prompts each month. Over 10,000 personal agents created since the capability was introduced in late 2025.
What unique or key transformation practices do you follow to ensure success?
We are leveraging AI to power transformative initiatives which have an enterprise-wide impact through Operating Model Transformations (OMTs).
OMTs involve re-engineering processes for human and AI collaboration, leveraging tools to enhance workflows, while reskilling our people for new and augmented roles.
We are pleased to report that we surpassed our 2025 target of six OMTs, embarking on 11 initiatives for the year.
DBS’s holistic OMT approach drives adaptive structures optimised for Human+AI collaboration – leveraging AI to power transformative initiatives which have an enterprise-wide impact.
E.g: Credit Memo
• Earlier, RMs and CRMs spent significant time pulling together market reports, financials and internal data across systems to come out with account plans, dossiers, and credit memos.
• Now we agentic AI helps generate a first draft that credit managers can review.
• This is enabled by over 70 agents pulling information from multiple sources to create a well-rounded and comprehensive response.
How has your workforce been engaged and transformed through this journey?
Comprehensive AI Training Programs:
By focusing on continuous learning and responsible innovation, we create clear pathways for career growth and empower our people to thrive in an AI-enabled future.
• Bank-wide Curriculum: Fundamental knowledge (Intro to Agentic AI, Generative AI overview, prompt engineering basics), effective use of internal AI tools (DBS-GPT 101, building personal agents), and risk awareness (Responsible Data & AI Use, AI Governance, PURE framework).
• Engaging Platforms: DBS Next Top AI Agent Challenge, Live Fulfilled Carnival, Transformation Festival showcases and "Ok, What’s Next" internal podcast series, to encourage learning and adoption.
• Role-Based Training: Deep-dive sessions by experts, role-specific Gen AI tools
Impact:
• >11,000 colleagues in AI-impacted roles identified for deeper, role-specific capability building through vertical use cases
• 7 in 10 employees using horizontal and vertical solutions monthly
What measurable outcomes demonstrate the success of your transformation?
We’ve streamlined innovation and enabled deployment across business units (CBG, IBG, Group Financial Markets) and support units (Legal and Compliance, Audit, Finance, HR, Ops, Risk) to deliver:
• Growing economic impact y-o-y from AI/ML and data analytics initiatives
o 2023: S$370M
o 2024: S$750M
o 2025: ~S$1B
• 2000+ AI/ML models, 430+ use cases deployed
Impact for:
- Employees - enhanced productivity, improved workflow efficiency, e.g:
• Customer Service Officer Assistant reduces call handling time by up to 20% with >95% accuracy
• CodeBuddy ↑ coding productivity by up to 20% on certain tasks
- Customers - AI has enabled faster turnaround times, more personalised engagement and greater consistency, e.g:
• DBS Joy chatbot – 1st customer-facing Gen AI use cases
o Used by > 20,000 corporate and SME customers since Jul 2025
o Contributed to 23% ↑ in customer satisfaction scores
Innovation Awards Hub community
With Qorus memberships, you gain access to exclusive innovation best practices and tailored matchmaking opportunities with executives who share your challenges.