Data & Artificial Intelligence

With the launch of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT at the end of 2022, the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is taking centre stage and is rapidly filling both the public and professional spheres. Within the BNP Paribas Group, AI has been integrated into processes and tools since 2016. The progressive use of this technology and data management are now at the heart of the Bank's GTS 2025 strategic plan. As a result, the Group's experts have already put more than 750 AI use cases into production, with a further 300 being studied or tested. The aim is to have 1,000 use cases in production by 2025.

The central role of Data Management in AI

Data quality directly impacts the relevance and effectiveness of artificial intelligence systems, making data management a key component in the development and successful deployment of AI-based solutions.

In banking and finance, huge amounts of data, both structured and unstructured, are constantly being collected and need to be processed. Artificial intelligence makes this processing much faster, more efficient and more secure, helping to improve both the customer and employee experience. In banks, the rapid adoption of AI is based on the sector's experience in developing advanced models to process large volumes of data, particularly for financing or investment decisions, which are at the heart of its activities.

At BNP Paribas, the importance attached to data is reflected in the implementation of concrete measures such as:

  •  Integrating data protection and confidentiality at all stages of product and service development, in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and all applicable standards and regulations. The Bank also undertakes not to use personal data for commercial purposes;
  • Transparency in the collection and processing of data, while allowing our customers to control the use of their data;
  • Commitment to processing and using data in a way that avoids any negative impact resulting from social, sexist or cultural biases, especially for the most vulnerable. To this end, the Bank provides training to all its employees to make them aware of the biases inherent in AI. In addition, a specific and mandatory technical training module is being rolled out across the Bank for the community of data scientists to equip them with the best practices to identify and address biases.

Finally, special attention will be paid to data quality, which is key to the relevance and effectiveness of artificial intelligence systems, making data management a key component in the development and successful deployment of AI-based solutions.

How is Artificial Intelligence used at BNP Paribas ?

Mastering and implementing artificial intelligence at the heart of the bank offers multiple benefits in terms of knowing our customers and optimising their experience. AI facilitates and accelerates the development of new products and services tailored to their needs. It also increases operational efficiency through the automation of processes and the development of decision support solutions, and plays a growing role in the detection and prevention of risks, particularly cybersecurity risks.

Deepen our knowledge of our customers and optimise their experience

The use of AI, which is capable of analysing market data and client histories in depth, significantly enhances our knowledge of our clients. AI has already been integrated into a large number of BNP Paribas processes, making it easier to establish relationships, grant loans, offer products and personalise services.

The integration of AI within the Bank also enables it to refine its understanding of clients' needs in order to provide them with faster and more relevant responses, for example through automated conversational assistants that quickly provide them with an initial level of information. In this area, generative AI will provide an advantage over more traditional scripted approaches, thanks to real advances in the quality of the dialogue and responses provided.

Improving operational efficiency

By rapidly collecting and processing large volumes of data, AI can also improve operational performance by automating some of the repetitive tasks, freeing up staff time for higher value-added tasks such as advice, monitoring or analysis. For example, AI can be used to analyse different types of documents to extract the relevant data to automate certain requests or processes.

Identifying and preventing risks, ensuring cybersecurity

Finally, AI is a powerful tool for detecting and preventing major risks for the Bank and our clients: fraud, money laundering and, in particular, cyber-attacks. For example, it helps experts analyse data more quickly and efficiently to detect anomalous behaviour, prevent fraud and alert customers. 

As with any innovation, AI offers great opportunities, but it also comes with a number of risks that need to be understood, measured and taken into account. At BNP Paribas, we ensure that we use AI in a responsible way that protects our data and that of our clients.

 BNP Paribas, partner of AI startups 

BNP Paribas has been an active supporter of the global start-up ecosystem for several years. The Bank's support for these innovative companies can take several forms, from banking to capital investment, including co-creation and integration into dedicated acceleration programmes.

 Among these start-ups, most of those dedicated to AI were created between 2016 and 2020, so their offerings are now mature and ready for deployment. In France, for example, nearly 500 start-ups have put AI at the heart of their product and service offering.

The WAI, BNP Paribas' programme entirely dedicated to innovation and start-ups, is currently funding or supporting the development of nearly half of them, whether they specialise in machine learning systems, such as Dataiku, backed by BNP Paribas for over a decade; image analysis, such as Prelingens, which the Bank has supported since 2016; natural language processing, such as Shift Technology, supported since 2013; or generative AI. In this last segment, BNP Paribas participated in Mistral AI's €385 million financing round at the end of 2023. This investment will accompany the development of the French generative AI start-up, which offers a transparent and open approach to its models while using 10 times fewer resources than the market leader.

According to the April 2024 ranking by the intelligence platform Evident AI, BNP Paribas is the leading European bank in terms of investment in AI start-ups and third among global banks.

Data and AI careers

Rapidly evolving, data and AI professions include roles like data analyst, data scientist, AI business analyst, ML engineer, AI/ML model reviewer. The role of these professionals is to manage, analyse and integrate data into AI models in order to improve knowledge of our clients, strengthen operational performance, detect and prevent fraud-related risks and contribute to the creation of value for the Group and its clients.

Within BNP Paribas, these new areas of expertise already bring together a community of 3,000 data specialists, including more than 700 data scientists and AI business analysts, and there are many career opportunities in these professions. According to the rankings published by Evident AI in June 2023, BNP Paribas is the leading European bank and the sixth largest in the world in terms of the number of employees in AI professions, and the fifth largest in the world in terms of the number of new hires in progress.

More broadly, since 2018, BNP Paribas' Digital Data & Agile Academy has enabled all employees to receive training in data and AI, as well as in other tech professions.

Further insights