NatWest has appointed Dr Maja Pantic as its first chief artificial intelligence (AI) research officer to help develop the bank’s AI capabilities.
Pantic is a professor at Imperial College London and was previously founding research director at Samsung AI research centre in Cambridge, and AI scientific research director at Meta London.
Pantic will focus on building up AI use cases, including using multimodal AI like voice and video to help tackle deepfakes, and using generative AI to improve AI controls.
She will also lead research into how AI is changing the banking industry and how new technology might shift customer behaviour in future.
Another part of the role will be progressing automation and AI tools across the bank to help colleagues work more efficiently.
Pantic said: “My career decisions have always been guided by two things: the opportunity to make an impact and the chance to learn.
“Joining a business like NatWest – given the vital role it plays in the lives of the customers and communities it serves – will not only give me the opportunity to work at the forefront of technological shifts in the banking industry at an immense scale, but to learn from leaders who instil a culture of learning and innovation throughout the bank.”
Scott Marcar, CIO of NatWest Group, said: “It’s not the first time I’ve said that ai is helping us to be a simpler NatWest and to transform our customers’ experiences as we become even more of a trusted partner in the moments that matter most.
“Maja’s appointment is another important and exciting milestone; her unique skills and experience will help us adapt and meet customers’ changing needs faster, and more effectively, whilst complementing our team’s existing capabilities.”
