Standard Chartered filters AI through business-first lens

Clear objectives and disciplined architecture are essential to scaling responsible AI.

At the sidelines of the Singapore Fintech Festival 2025, David Hardoon, Global Head of AI Enablement at Standard Chartered, said the bank is cutting through the noise around enterprise AI by grounding every adoption decision in clear business priorities and a unified organisational strategy.

“The way we go about it is, number one is we have an organisational strategy, what we stand for, and at the end of the day, it's about cross border, it's about wealth and it's about sustainability,” Hardoon said. He added that AI must always serve a defined objective: “It's not just about doing AI for the sake of AI… it's about a business objective.”

This strategy-first approach extends to a broader architectural view. “It can't just be a standalone, it needs to sit in the larger picture,” he said.

Hardoon highlighted the bank’s build-buy-blend model as central to scaling AI effectively.

Standard Chartered’s AI “factory” has already delivered production-scale outcomes. In Hong Kong, AI has reduced memo underwriting time from days to minutes, improving both productivity and customer experience.

Looking ahead, he sees the next frontier in personalised, seamless banking experiences. “What I truly believe there's the highest impact… it's about personalisation of service and simplicity,” he said, with personal assistants poised to elevate customer interactions.