Independent Banker - July 2024 - 70

CONNECTIONS TRAILBLAZER
Creating a culture
of innovation
As part of its commitment
to keep steadily advancing
toward the future,
Customers Bank ensures
its goals for innovation are
reasonable and effective.
President and CEO Sam
Sidhu cautions banks not
to adopt change goals that
are too aggressive. " The
temptation is to say, 'Why
can't we do everything at
once, quickly?' Instead,
roadmap the first 90-day
goal. You can only work
so quickly on some of
these types of changes, "
he explains.
To achieve such goals,
Customers Bank holds
quarterly off-site meetings.
All of the top executives
have a seat at the table as
they propose and debate
new ideas.
However, the final
recommendation or decision
is made by the person
closest to the proposed
action. Off-site meetings
end with identifying specific
action items and one leader
commits to executing each
action item. This ensures
that innovative ideas don't
get left on the whiteboard.
Customers Bank prioritizes
innovations that will make
a positive impact on its
customers. " We want to
do things that can help
the customer experience, "
Sidhu concludes.
developed the overall training
roadmap, Customers has another
level of managers and individual
contributors leading the
implementation: the AI Discovery
team. This team is crossfunctional
and has 15-minute
meetings with Harris twice a week
to check in on their progress.
In response to employee
feedback, the bank is also evolving
a " champions " model for handson
support. These champions
receive more AI training and
serve as go-to partners for specific
functions to help their teams use
AI on the job.
Putting AI to use
Customers has worked through
an " acceptable use " AI policy
for the bank and has created
an evaluation framework for
potential AI uses. Criteria for
evaluation include the value, the
cost, the length of time to develop
and the risk. " We take that
aggregated score and prioritize
the items that could leverage AI, "
Harris says.
Harris reports that Customers
is realizing two main benefits of
AI to date: boosting productivity
and enhancing cybersecurity.
He explains how AI can
boost productivity. " We prompt
employees to use AI to optimize
their day and find efficiencies.
How to use AI responsibly will be
ubiquitous for knowledge workers
in the future. "
AI's capabilities in identifying
threat patterns can greatly
strengthen a bank's security
posture, according to Harris. " Bad
actors are already using AI for
more sophisticated ingresses and
breaches, " he warns. " Sticking
your head in the sand and hoping
it won't happen is not a strategy. "
70 // ICBA Independent Banker // July 2024
Balancing innovation
and compliance
While Customers actively encourages
innovation, Harris notes that
the bank also has a strong risk
management culture. " We look
at everything we do through a
risk-based lens, " he states. " AI is
no different. "
Customers has not fully
introduced AI into its transaction
stream at this point and is not
rushing to do so. " We have to ensure
that our risk-based approach to
any technology outlet aligns with
banking regulatory and compliance
frameworks, " Harris observes. " We
could get there quicker, but we want
to make sure it's acceptable. "
Despite taking a cautious
approach, Harris remains positive
about the future of AI. " I think
it's bringing a whole new level of
capabilities to the world, " he says.
" 'Let's take on tomorrow' is not a
platitude. We keep our eyes peeled
for what is coming and how we can
use it. I can't wait for tomorrow to
get here. "
Judith Sears is a writer in Colorado.
QUICK STAT
$200B
to
$340B
Banks' potential value increase
while using generative AI
Source: McKinsey & Company Financial Services
Independent Banker - July 2024

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