DBS Group's CEO Tan Su Shan believes geopolitical fragmentation and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping banking. Both trends are expected to create new opportunities across wealth management, payments and digital assets.
Companies are diversifying supply chains, currencies and investments as the global economy becomes more multipolar, Tan notes in the bank's FY2025 annual report. DBS expects to benefit as clients seek financial partners capable of navigating cross-border trade, financing flows and risk management in that environment.
"In an increasingly fragmented, volatile and complex operating landscape, we continue to outperform by leveraging our core strengths as a Dependable, Diversifier, Digital and Disruptor bank," she writes.
Alongside these macro shifts, DBS is accelerating its use of AI across the organisation.
The bank generated about $1 billion in economic value from AI/machine learning and data analytics initiatives in FY2025. More than 2,000 models were deployed across over 430 use cases during the year, expanding the role of machine intelligence across areas ranging from software development to client service.
"Our early and sustained investments in data and technology have established a robust foundation for industrialising AI across hundreds of meaningful use cases. This positions us to harness the game-changing potential of generative AI and agentic AI,” says Tan.
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The update reinforces a strategy DBS has pursued for several years. The bank has invested heavily in technology while maintaining a focus on financial discipline.
"Our commitment to tracking business outcomes ensures that capital is allocated only to initiatives with proven traction, while allowing for course-correction for those that fall short," she notes, adding that DBS applies "the same level of rigour" to its AI approach as it does to other capital allocation decisions.
AI moves deeper into daily operations
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In 2021, DBS was one of only two banks globally to publicly disclose the economic impact of its data analytics and AI initiatives. The $1 billion reflects gains from such programmes deployed across multiple business units.
One example is DBS-GPT, the bank's internal large language model system. It gives employees role-based access to more than four million DBS policies and content, enabling staff to retrieve guidance quickly and resolve operational questions faster.
The bank is also redesigning workflows to embed AI more deeply into daily work. DBS completed nine Operating Model Transformation initiatives in 2025, aimed at re-engineering processes for human-AI collaboration, enhancing workflows and reskilling staff while implementing simplified, adaptive organisational structures.
Some of the clearest productivity gains have emerged within the bank's technology teams. Generative AI now automates tasks such as test-case generation and user-story documentation. Work that once took months can now be completed in weeks, while greater end-to-end automation has also strengthened operational resilience.
Customer-facing services are also evolving. DBS Joy, the bank's generative AI-enabled chatbot launched in July 2025 for corporate banking clients, has been used by more than 20,000 corporate and SME customers. This helped lift customer satisfaction scores by 23%.
The next stage of the bank's AI strategy will involve systems capable of operating more independently.
"With agentic AI gaining prominence, we foresee a transition from AI as a copilot to AI operating on autopilot as we integrate agents with autonomous capabilities into workflows to unlock new possibilities for our people. Governance remains paramount and our robust Responsible AI framework provides a firm foundation in understanding how best to deploy AI agents safely," states Tan.
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DBS is also investing in upskilling and reskilling programmes to help employees adapt to roles augmented by machine intelligence.
"We fully anticipate that the pace of AI development will continue to be breathtaking. However, rather than being swayed by hype, we will remain grounded in our approach to be an AI-enabled bank with a heart, where our people and AI work synergistically to better serve our customers,” she notes.
Tokenisation and RMB clearing
Alongside AI, DBS is expanding its presence in blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
The bank launched Singapore's first tokenised money-market fund with Franklin Templeton and completed what it described as the world's first over-the-counter cryptocurrency options inter-bank trade.
Tan linked the bank's digital assets push to the passing of the Genius Act, US legislation that established a regulatory framework for stablecoins and programmable money, saying it had accelerated broader market adoption of tokenisation.
Its DBS Token Services platform allows corporate clients to use tokenised deposits to conduct programmable value transfers around the clock. The initiative reflects a broader push to develop financial products built on blockchain infrastructure.
Besides that DBS is also the sole Singapore bank appointed as a renminbi (RMB) clearing institution, a designation Tan cited as a competitive advantage as corporate clients seek to diversify trade corridors and establish alternative payment pathways in a multipolar world.
"Whether in currencies, supply chains or investments, the impetus to diversify, especially to regions with strong rule of law and market stability, will present significant opportunities for DBS," she writes.
