David Rice takes helm as HSBC’s first chief AI officer to advance AI adoption

London – HSBC has appointed David Rice as its first-ever chief AI officer, a role effective from 1 April that will oversee the bank’s enterprise-wide AI strategy.

Rice’s role will provide leadership for AI adoption across HSBC, supporting the bank’s aim to embed AI solutions that enhance both colleague workflows and customer services.

He was previously the chief operating officer for HSBC’s Corporate and Institutional Banking business.

The appointment comes amid HSBC’s broader push to deploy AI at scale, including making generative AI tools available to all staff to streamline processes and enable customer-facing teams to deliver more personalised services.

Commenting about his new role, David said, “AI is going to play an ever-increasing role in HSBC’s future plans, so I am thrilled to take on this new role to help us drive forward our transformation agenda.”

Alongside Rice’s appointment, HSBC announced an expansion of Mario Shamtani’s responsibilities as chief technology officer (CTO). Shamtani will focus on strengthening the bank’s technology foundations to support large-scale AI deployment, including modernising core platforms, creating a central AI platform for colleagues, and leading strategic partnerships.

Georges Elhedery, group CEO of HSBC, said, “Our customers increasingly expect their bank to deliver services uniquely aligned to their specific needs, and fast. That’s why we’re building a bank that is designed for the future. AI plays a key role in how we get there.”

“Our ambition here is simple – we will empower our colleagues to use AI to create a personalised experience for each customer and deliver it safely, in real time and at scale, while keeping human judgement, decision-making and accountability at the core. David will be instrumental in helping us realise our ambition in this area,” he added.