Irish bank rolls out AI tools to 10,000 staff

AIB is embedding artificial intelligence (AI) into business tools throughout the bank for 10,000 staff to free up their time for higher value work.

As well as using AI in conjunction with Microsoft tools such as Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams and PowerPoint, the Irish bank’s AI Centre of Excellence will work on developing new tools to meet its needs through Copilot Studio. Tools could, for example, be created that help staff gain insights from complex data faster, thereby improving decision-making processes.

“By reducing time spent on repetitive tasks, these tools will free up time for higher value work and allow employees to focus on what matters most,” said the bank.

AIB’s chief technology officer (CTO) Graham Fagan added: “We’re equipping every AIB colleague with Microsoft Copilot tools – embedding AI into the flow of work to simplify tasks, building fluency and elevating customer experiences.

“We’ve been exploring its potential with our employees through collaboration and testing, and now we’re scaling it across the organisation to deliver smarter, faster and more meaningful outcomes for our customers and our people. Our AI Centre of Excellence has laid the groundwork for this shift, ensuring that every deployment of AI and generative AI [GenAI] is secure, purposeful and people centric.”

Workers face major changes in the way they work, with many traditional roles set to disappear as AI take-up accelerates in the finance sector.

The Bank of England and the FCA have been tracking how financial services firms in the UK are using AI and machine learning. The results of its latest survey covered 120 firms, and it found that three-quarters are already using some form of AI in their operations.

The survey discovered that some of the most common early use cases for AI have been low risk from a financial stability standpoint. For example, 41% are using AI to optimise internal processes, while 26% are using AI to enhance customer support

According to research by OpenAI and the University of Pennsylvania, roles that will be affected include accountants, legal assistants, financial analysts, journalists, translators and public relations professionals. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs published figures in March 2023 that spoke of 300 million jobs exposed to AI across all sectors.

AIB said it is engaging with Ireland’s Financial Services Union, which represents workers in the sector, regarding its implementation of AI.

Beyond the finance sector, the UK government ran a trial of using AI with 20,000 civil servants, which it said demonstrated they could save nearly two weeks each annually by using the technology.
 
The trial used GenAI tools such as Microsoft 365 Copilot to assist with everyday tasks, including drafting documents, summarising lengthy emails, updating records and preparing reports. The results coincide with research from the Alan Turing Institute, which has reported that AI could support up to 41% of tasks across the public sector, offering significant time savings.

The expected benefits to economies were highlighted by AIB, which quoted research from Microsoft and Trinity College Dublin revealing that AI adoption in Ireland has surged to 91%, nearly doubling from 49% in 2024, and is expected to add €250bn to its economy by 2035.