Commonwealth Bank extends AI partnership with Microsoft

Banking giant CBA has struck a deal to deepen its partnership with Microsoft, potentially allowing customers to resolve queries faster than ever before.

CBA chief information officer Gavin Munroe.

Commonwealth Bank has struck a deal to deepen its partnership with Microsoft, potentially allowing customers to resolve queries faster than ever before.

The banking giant will announce on Monday that it has signed a new ‘letter of intent’ with Microsoft to work together on a range of initiatives, especially generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) and cyber security. The agreement extends their current partnership.

CBA chief information officer Gavin Munroe said engineers from the tech giant’s Seattle headquarters had already started working on a set of experiments with real life use cases to improve customer experience.

“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,” Mr Munroe said. “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.”

The bank has already been leveraging the generative AI–powered Copilot for Microsoft 365 to simplify internal operations as well as GitHub Copilot, with the goal of delivering code faster and freeing up time for more creative work.

Microsoft Australia managing director Steven Worrall said the tech partnership set new benchmarks in customer and employee experiences, operational efficiency and innovation.

“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,” he said. “Our collaboration will also go beyond immediate business outcomes, addressing critical societal challenges through enhanced cybersecurity and sovereign capability development. 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.”

The deal comes a week after the bank announced it will shut down the last of its Bankwest branches and will turn the Perth-based bank it bought 15 years ago into a digital-only lender by the end of the year.

As a result, 45 Bankwest branches will be closed by the end of October, impacting about 350 people working at them – all of whom will be offered new roles.

CBA is spending about $2bn per year in investments that improve its efficiency, including technology driving its integration of AI, cloud computing, digitisation efforts and scam prevention.

The bank’s shares have also been on a tear, soaring to a record closing high of $121.45 on Friday. A 25 per cent jump in CBA shares since the end of October has boosted the bank’s market value by $50bn to $203bn.