As AI reshapes industries, it presents an unprecedented opportunity for organisations to reimagine how work gets done and unlock human potential at scale. As an AI-enabled bank with a heart, DBS’ philosophy has always been to put people at the heart of transformation. We see AI as a cognitive enhancer — one that can take away toil, augment our capabilities and create capacity to drive growth. We are investing in our people so they can combine AI with higher-order human skills such as critical thinking, judgement and creativity, take on more complex work, and create greater value for our customers, the bank and employees. We continue to double down on equipping our workforce with the skills, confidence and opportunities to navigate a rapidly changing world. At the same time, we are creating new pathways for meaningful careers for our employees, while keeping the door open for young talent, reflecting our belief that in an AI-enabled future, humans must remain in the lead. (Tan Su Shan, Chief Executive Officer, DBS)

DBS
DBS
IBF Inspire Award (2026)

DBS

Company Profile

At DBS, our approach to AI and workforce transformation starts with a simple belief: AI should create capacity to drive growth. We see AI as a cognitive enhancer – removing toil and giving our people greater capacity to apply higher-order skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving and relationship-building to more complex work and create greater value.

We make AI pervasive through both horizontal and vertical adoption. For instance, DBS-GPT is made available broadly, building AI fluency across our workforce and creating a multiplier effect, with employees also empowered to develop personal agents to enhance their own workflows. We have embarked on 12 Operating Model Transformation (OMTs) across all parts of the bank. OMTs are enterprise-wide initiatives which systematically redesign workflows, processes and structures to scale human-AI collaboration. This also involves mapping today’s tasks against future tasks, identifying the skills required, and determining how roles can be augmented, redesigned or transformed. Employees are then supported with structured upskilling and reskilling pathways to move into higher-value roles as technology takes on more routine work.

Importantly, transformation is as much about people as technology. Through our 5Es – Excite, Enable, Educate, Empower and Embed – we bring employees along the journey, working in partnership with our DBS Staff Union and IBF. At the same time, we remain committed to nurturing young talent through our internships, traineeships and Management Associates Programme, equipping the next generation with the skills and experiences to grow and thrive in the Agentic era.

This reflects our philosophy of being an AI-enabled bank with a heart: save people, not jobs, while creating shared value for our people, customers, bank and society.