Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank) and Microsoft have announced that they are deepening their pre-existing partnership with a new strategic emphasis on generative AI.
After both organisations signed a fresh “letter of intent”, the partnership intends to enhance customer benefits through wider adoption of Gen AI and “ongoing cyber security initiatives”.
“Working in partnership with Microsoft, alongside other external partners, gives us the opportunity to access the global expertise in a range of areas so we can deliver more for our customers – including the incredibly fast-moving area of generative AI,” said Gavin Munroe, CBA’s Group Executive, Technology and Group Chief Information Officer.
Through our ongoing partnership, we’ll be able to deliver technology that will allow customers to interact with CBA seamlessly and resolve queries faster than ever before. We also see this as an opportunity to work together with leading global technology teams to ensure CBA’s safety and security is constantly upgraded and improved to keep pace with the evolving threat landscape.”
Engineers from Microsoft’s Seattle headquarters have begun collaboration with CommBank on tangible use cases to enhance its customer experience.
“We are very excited to strengthen our partnership with CommBank, helping it set new benchmarks in customer and employee experiences, operational efficiency and innovation,” added Steven Worrall, Managing Director, Microsoft Australia and New Zealand. “Microsoft will continue working closely with CommBank to realise AI’s full potential in line with the bank’s strategy to deliver world-leading digital experiences and technology.”
The partnership bolsters Gen AI collaboration between the two companies, with the bank already utilising Copilot for Microsoft 365 and GitHub Copilot, both powered by generative AI, to streamline internal operations and expedite code delivery, ultimately freeing up time for more creative tasks.
What the Partnership Specifically Entails
Among the critical ambitions behind the collaboration is delivering a superior customer experience, including developing a CommBank Copilot to resolve customer queries faster and support customers in better understanding their money.
Customer safety is also critical. The partnership seeks to share intelligence to bolster cybersecurity and develop tools for CBA business customers, aiding them in enhancing their protective measures.
Moreover, the development of Copilots should enable team members to leverage Generative AI effectively, enhancing responsiveness to customer needs and fostering collaboration among engineering teams through AI. This intends to facilitate the sharing knowledge and solutions, ultimately delivering more value to customers.
“Our collaboration will also go beyond immediate business outcomes, addressing critical societal challenges through enhanced cybersecurity and sovereign capability development,” Worrall explained. “Together, we aim to not only enhance the security posture of CommBank and its customers but also increase Australia’s resilience against evolving cyber threats. This partnership underscores our dedication to fostering a safer, more secure digital environment for all Australians.”
What Else Has Microsoft Been Up To Recently?
While Microsoft’s collaboration with CommBank is a compelling case study, it’s also illustrative of Microsoft tailoring Copilot-oriented products and services to financial professionals more generally.
Last week, Microsoft announced Microsoft Copilot for Finance, empowering businesses with finance-specific, next-gen AI capabilities.
Now available in public preview, Copilot for Finance seamlessly integrates with financial systems such as Dynamics 365 and SAP, along with many bespoke Copilot Studios. It provides role-specific workflow automation, guided actions, and recommendations within Microsoft Outlook, Excel, Teams, and other Microsoft 365 applications. This enhances efficiency by streamlining tasks, enabling teams to concentrate on driving organisational success.
In other Copilot news, Microsoft has revealed that Copilot in OneDrive will begin rolling out in late April 2024.
The new tool will allow users to retrieve information from files in their OneDrive rapidly and will be available for work and school customers with a Copilot for Microsoft 365 license. Copilot in OneDrive will be accessible from OneDrive for web and file viewer in Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive.
Microsoft also announced plans to remove support for Android apps on Windows 11, having only introduced support in October 2021.
Within one year, Microsoft will stop maintaining the virtual machine Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA). The WSA enables users to run and install most Android apps through the Amazon Android marketplace as a result of an agreement between the two industry leaders. The marketplace will also become inaccessible when support ends.
