AIB Banks on Trust & Security while Building its New App

Three years ago, Allied Irish Banks had started a programme to improve digital and data literacy across its operations.

That effort, which is now coming to its conclusion, was designed to prepare the organisation for emerging technologies.

Graham Fagan became Group Chief Technology Officer in 2023 when Gen AI tools were not yet widely discussed in the banking sector.

He has since taken on a combined role that includes Group Chief Operating Officer.

"There's been a lot done," he says. "It's been a very interesting journey."

The bank adapted its technology roadmap during the period to account for rapid changes in the AI landscape.

"We've had to incorporate those items [AI] into the strategy as we've moved along," Graham explains. "It's been a very consequential period in terms of laying the foundations for the next decade."

Security and availability at scale

Allied Irish Banks maintains a massive customer footprint and remains anchored in its core responsibility to them.

"Banking is about trust and we take that very, very seriously," Graham says.

"We are a systemically important bank from a European perspective with 3.4 million customers… Job zero for us is security and service."

Allied Irish Banks reported 99.99% availability in the previous year, an achievement that reflects Graham's sentiment on service.

"We believe in being the best in Ireland, the UK and beyond," he says. "But you've got to fight hard for that kind of performance every day. If your infrastructure is not there, you are not going to achieve that type of outcome."

Reliability matters more to customers in a digital banking environment more than everything else.

"Trust is the new user experience because as much as technology has advanced, in the volatile world that we operate in, availability cannot be taken for granted."

Mobile platform built for personalisation

Marking the organisation's most substantial digital change in more than 10 years, Allied Irish Banks launched a redesigned mobile banking application to meet changing customer behaviours. 

Research conducted by Allied Irish Banks found that 76% of Irish adults check their banking application multiple times each week. The same research showed nearly half of users rarely use the application for financial insights.

"We have built a digital engagement platform from the point of view of security from the ground up and our new mobile app is the first service to use it," Graham says.

The bank examined design approaches from the entertainment industry to inform the application rebuild.

"We want to come up with the best banking app, but we want to also bring in a bit of additional flare and provocation around, such as if they would do this in the entertainment industry. We brought that in to challenge our own thinking."

The application was designed to allow for personalised customer experiences while maintaining security standards.

"People want you to understand them but they also want to know our products and services are secure. The key trick there is the best security is the security you can see.

"They don't want five layers of friction to do a simple task so we have put huge consideration into that for our mobile app."

Adoption over experimentation in AI

Allied Irish Banks selected specific AI deployment areas rather than running multiple pilot programmes.

The bank focused on security upgrades, software engineering productivity and customer service tools.

"A key thing we've learned over the years is you don't push technology at people," Graham says.

The organisation deployed Microsoft Copilot with a structured adoption programme. Graham says the bank exceeded Microsoft benchmarks for adoption early in the rollout.

"We haven't spun up loads of proofs of concept," Graham adds. "You hear about this kind of pilot purgatory that people end in up in and they get a rush of blood to the head and they've started loads of pilots."

"We've been very intentional about what we were doing and where were doing it."

Consumer AI creates enterprise expectations

AI differs from previous enterprise technologies because individuals already use the tools in personal contexts. This creates expectations that organisations must manage.

"There is a consumerisation aspect of AI because people have it in their home lives," says Graham.

"Any technology where there's been consumerisation over the years means enterprises have to be mindful that colleagues will already have their own points of view about the tech."

Allied Irish Banks established a Centre of Excellence to coordinate AI testing and deployment. The structure helps the organisation test technologies such as code refactoring while maintaining control.

The Centre of Excellence functions as a guide rather than a barrier to technology adoption.