HSBC Expands AI Strategy With Singapore AI CoE Launch

HSBC has revealed plans to establish a Global AI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Singapore, with the launch scheduled for the second half of this year.

The move underlines the bank’s ongoing strategy to integrate AI more deeply into its international banking operations.

Designed as a scalable innovation hub, the CoE will focus on building AI capabilities that can be rolled out across HSBC’s global network.

It also supports the bank’s wider ambition to digitise customer engagement, streamline internal processes and enhance decision-making through advanced analytics.

Georges Elhedery, Group CEO of HSBC, says: “The new AI Centre of Excellence in Singapore will help drive our global AI vision – to empower our colleagues to use AI to create a personalised experience for each customer, deliver it safely, in real time and at scale, while keeping human judgement, decision-making and accountability at the core.”

Three high-priority targets

Initially, the Singapore-based CoE will concentrate on three high-impact areas aligned with HSBC’s strategic priorities:

• Enhancing customer wealth journey conversations through AI-driven insights
• Introducing agentic treasury solutions to optimise corporate liquidity and decisioning
• Developing AI-enabled digital payments capabilities.

These focus areas reflect sectors that are both data-intensive and high-growth, where AI has the potential to significantly improve efficiency and customer outcomes.

In payments, in particular, AI is expected to play a key role in fraud detection, enabling real-time processing and improving intelligent routing – all increasingly critical as global transaction volumes continue to rise.

AI as an opportunity to scale 

The new CoE forms part of HSBC’s broader AI transformation strategy, which focuses on embedding intelligence across both operations and customer touchpoints.

“We see AI as an opportunity to be a simple, more responsive and more connected bank for our customers and colleagues,” the bank says.

“We’re investing in the technology and platforms that strengthen how we serve customers and we’re giving our colleagues the tools and training to adapt, succeed and benefit from the opportunities AI brings.”

HSBC also notes that partnerships with leading technology firms will be key to accelerating AI deployment. These collaborations are expected to support areas such as machine learning infrastructure, data platforms and gen AI applications.

Enabling maximum support 

To support the CoE, HSBC plans to hire more than 100 AI specialists across disciplines including natural language processing, AI governance data science, and human-centred design.

These specialists will work alongside David Rice, HSBC’s Chief AI Officer, as well as teams spanning wealth management and global payments solutions.

The bank is also investing in Singapore’s broader innovation ecosystem by partnering with academic institutions and government bodies. This approach is aimed at building a sustainable pipeline of AI talent while advancing technical expertise and ensuring responsible deployment.

HSBC has stressed that all AI development within the CoE will operate under strong governance frameworks, with human oversight remaining central.

This emphasis reflects growing regulatory scrutiny and the ethical considerations surrounding AI adoption in financial services.