Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sberbank.
Sberbank’s First Deputy Chairman of the Board Alexander Vedyakhin spoke about the important role of artificial intelligence (AI) for the future of Russian banks. The discussion took place on July 4 at the session of the Bank of Russia Financial Congress “Transformation of Business Models. Strategic Vision” held in St. Petersburg,
“There is now competition for human and customer experience, and in this competition without artificial intelligence it is impossible to be as relevant as possible,” Vedyakhin said.
He pointed out that, at the moment, it is only thanks to information technology and artificial intelligence that a specific person can be offered a solution to his specific situation with a specific and relevant product, without impositions, but so that the person understands that this is exactly what he needs.
He noted that this year alone, the financial impact of the introduction of artificial intelligence in Sberbank, according to the bank’s experts, will amount to 400-450 billion rubles.
However, Vedyakhin warned that the transition from the model of banks to the model of IT companies could lead to 3-5 large players remaining on the financial market, which is wrong from the point of view of competition. In turn, Sber is ready and will sell its GigaChat to all financial institutions that are interested in it, he noted.
The vice president also mentioned the challenges that Russian banks will face and the possibilities of overcoming them. In his opinion, the main challenges at the moment are the issue of staff and the availability of technology, including computing power. And the key opportunities are artificial intelligence and the development of the capital market, Vedyakhin concluded.
The session of the Financial Congress was also attended by Sovcombank Chairman of the Board Dmitry Gusev, VTB Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Board Vadim Kulik, and Ozon Bank Chairman of the Board Andrey Lichmanov. The debate was moderated by Olga Polyakova, President of the Bank of Russia.
