DBS CEO Tan Su Shan is leading the bank into a new era of artificial intelligence (AI), with a focus on creating a “gen-AI-enabled bank with a heart.” Since taking the helm in March, Tan has emphasized the importance of emotional balance, agility, and trust in navigating the volatile banking landscape. She believes in cultivating a diverse team with complementary skills and building trust to face challenges together.
Tan highlights the need for “ambidextrous leadership,” balancing legacy infrastructure with innovative pursuits. DBS is rooted in Asia, with a focus on core markets like China, India, and Indonesia, while anchoring tech and financial hubs in Singapore and Hong Kong. The bank manages geopolitical and regulatory complexity through ring-fencing of capital, risks, and technology.
DBS’s purpose is deeply rooted in its heritage as a development bank, and Tan stresses the importance of investing in social impact. The bank has committed over S$1 billion to lifting low-income communities across its markets. Tan emphasizes collaboration with governments, NGOs, and local communities to scale impact.
DBS’s AI journey began with the establishment of a data lake and has progressed to building over 1,300-1,600 models. In 2024, AI and data initiatives generated S$750 million of economic value, with anticipated growth to S$1.1-1.2 billion in 2025. Tan insists that the transformation must flow through culture, with a focus on responsible AI and a guiding philosophy known as the PURE framework: purposeful use of data, unsurprising, respectful, and explainable.
To ensure responsible AI, DBS enforces guardrails, including human-in-the-loop oversight, access controls, bias checks, and accountability. Tan says DBS is going all-in on AI, with a focus on getting fundamentals right, including clean data, robust guardrails, and a culture of learning. The bank is developing vertical AI use cases and has launched DBS GPT, a gen-AI assistant for employees.
Tan’s vision offers a powerful template for human-centered AI banking, marrying advanced AI with purpose, guardrails, and empathy. Her approach recognizes that technology alone is not transformation, but rather is shaped by values, leadership, and human touch. As DBS continues to innovate and grow, the question remains whether other institutions can follow suit and create their own “gen-AI-enabled bank with a heart.”