by Xinhua writers Vladislava Chugueva, Zhang Chaoqun
MOSCOW, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Only companies that prioritize their customers' interests will survive and thrive amid the fundamental changes artificial intelligence (AI) has brought to the global economy, Sberbank Deputy Chairman and CFO Taras Skvortsov has said.
Over one billion people worldwide still lack access to formal bank accounts, and AI can effectively lower banks' service thresholds to reach these underserved groups, Skvortsov told Xinhua ahead of the ongoing Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
As Russia's largest bank, Sberbank plays a leading role in the country's AI research and application, translating its advances in AI into more accessible everyday services for customers, he said.
In Russia, social tax deductions for education, fitness and medical expenses have long been underused because of cumbersome procedures. Sberbank has simplified the process with one-click processing, allowing customers to have the bank apply for deductions on their behalf.
"Within the framework of our human-centric strategy, we asked ourselves whether we could streamline the entire process for users, allowing them to simply tick a box to authorize Sberbank to apply for tax deductions on their behalf," Skvortsov said, noting that the bank expects the service to attract 60 million to 70 million users annually.
The bank itself is also among the biggest beneficiaries of AI, he noted, saying that the technology is transforming the traditional financial cycle of data collection, reporting, analysis and decision-making by generating analysis and actionable solutions as soon as data is acquired.
Sberbank has stepped up AI investment, Skvortsov said, spending about 100 billion rubles (1.15 billion U.S. dollars) on AI research and development in 2024 and planning to invest 350 billion rubles by 2026, with a focus on its GigaChat model and applications in personalized financial services, credit risk assessment and operational cost reduction.
Earlier this year, Sberbank unveiled Russia's first optical computing processor for AI applications, designed to speed up AI model training and deployment while improving energy efficiency, helping address rising power demands from AI data centers, he added.
In an era of global economic uncertainty, institutional resilience hinges on adaptability and a human-centric philosophy, Skvortsov said. "We believe that in a decade, only enterprises embracing this people-oriented mindset will survive and thrive."
"Companies that fail to prioritize user interests will gradually lose competitiveness and fade from the market," he said. ■