Lloyds Banking Group plc
Lloyds Banking Group plc
01/21/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/21/2026 10:42
2026: The year of Agentic AI, and a new era for finance
2026: The year of Agentic AI, and a new era for finance
Published on: 21 January 2026 6 min read
Rohit Dhawan
Group Head of Artificial Intelligence
Rohit's profile
At a glance:
- 2026 marks a turning point as agentic AI moves from experimentation to enterprise-wide deployment across financial services.
- Agentic AI goes beyond GenAI, enabling autonomous action, workflow orchestration, and real-time decision-making at scale.
- Lloyds Banking Group is leading the shift, applying agentic AI to customer interactions, operations, colleague enablement, and engineering.
- Responsible innovation remains central, ensuring agentic systems operate safely, ethically, and with human oversight.
As we enter the new year, it's clear that we are entering into a new era in artificial intelligence. The last two years have seen generative AI (GenAI) move from the periphery to the core of enterprise transformation. At Lloyds Banking Group, we've embraced this shift, embedding AI not just as a tool, but as a strategic enabler reshaping how we operate, serve customers, and prepare for the future.
2026 marks a step-change: the rise of agentic AI. This isn't an incremental improvement - it's a paradigm shift. Agentic AI systems go beyond responsiveness; they are proactive, autonomous, and capable of orchestrating complex workflows across the enterprise. This evolution will redefine what's possible for financial services, our customers, and the broader industry.
What is agentic AI?
Agentic AI represents a leap from passive to active intelligence. Where GenAI responds to prompts, agentic AI can:
- Act autonomously: Execute tasks, access data, and make decisions without human intervention.
- Orchestrate workflows: String together multiple agents to solve complex, multi-step problems.
- Adapt in real time: Respond to changing data and contexts, making decisions on the fly.
- Integrate deeply: Connect across systems, APIs, and data sources to deliver holistic solutions.
This isn't just a smarter chatbot. It is a new class of intelligent agent, capable of managing everything from complex queries to routine processes, freeing humans to focus on higher-value, strategic work.
Artificial Intelligence at Lloyds Banking Group
Artificial Intelligence at Lloyds Banking Group
We're reimagining how we operate by harnessing the full potential of AI-embedding it across our business to drive smarter decisions, faster outcomes, and better experiences.
The maturation of agentic AI
The journey to agentic AI has been rapid but deliberate. The launch of large language models like ChatGPT in 2022-23 catalysed a wave of innovation that made GenAI mainstream. For large organisations, the adoption curve is steeper. Technology must be robust, secure, and integrated with legacy systems before it can scale.
By 2026, agentic AI will move from pilot to enterprise-wide deployment. The technology is evolving from answering questions to taking actions: accessing systems, making decisions, and executing tasks autonomously. This is the year when agentic AI becomes not just available, but indispensable.
The Impact of agentic AI at Lloyds Banking Group
Across the Group, we've identified five strategic focus areas for agentic AI:
1. Customer interactions
Agentic AI will transform how customers engage with banks. Imagine a banking app where an intelligent agent understands a customer's financial footprint, provides contextual guidance, and even takes simple actions on their behalf, such as completing forms. This makes financial guidance and literacy more accessible and personalised.
2. Back-office operations
Manual, repetitive tasks in fraud investigation, complaints processing, and credit support will be re-engineered by autonomous agents. These systems can process unstructured data, prioritise work, and execute actions, reducing turnaround times and improving accuracy.
3. Frontline and relationship manager support
Colleagues on the front line will be empowered by agentic tools that consolidate information, generate insights, and help them prepare for client meetings. This shifts their focus from data gathering to strategic, value-added conversations.
4. Colleague assistance
At the Group, we are introducing advanced agent-building tools, enabling teams to create and share agents that boost productivity. The vision is a "colleague super-agent" that can answer questions and automate routine tasks - always within the compliance boundaries.
5. Engineering and developer enablement
Agentic AI will accelerate software development, from code conversion to test script generation and prototype building. Our integrated developer platform will embed agentic tools, democratising innovation across the Group.
We're continuing to invest in colleagues' AI capability through our Group-wide AI Academy, offering practical, accessible learning that helps everyone build confidence with AI. Through tailored pathways and resources, from mandatory responsible AI training to role-specific upskilling, the AI Academy supports colleagues to use AI safely, responsibly and effectively, helping us unlock smarter ways of working and deliver even better outcomes for customers.
Reimagining banking with AI
Reimagining banking with AI
Rohit Dhawan believes that AI will revolutionise the financial services industry over the coming decade. And the transformation will be broad - impacting everything from customer experience to administrative operations.
What agentic AI means for customers
For customers, agentic AI means:
- Faster, more personalised service: Agents that understand context and can perform tasks on the customer's behalf.
- Greater financial inclusion: Guidance and support for those who may not have access to traditional financial advice.
- Enhanced security and trust: With robust controls, monitoring, and human oversight, agentic AI can deliver value safely and responsibly.
Implications of Agentic AI for the wider finance industry
Agentic AI will transform finance by moving beyond automation to deliver autonomous, goal-driven systems that reason, act, and adapt in real time. This shift enables banks to offer hyper-personalised, always-on services, streamline operations, enhance risk management, and unlock new business models, all while demanding robust governance and workforce upskilling.
Ultimately, agentic AI will empower financial institutions to deliver greater efficiency, resilience, and value for customers, while raising the bar for trust and responsible innovation.
Addressing the agentic AI myths
-
Will agentic AI replace all human jobs? expandable section
No. It will automate routine tasks, but also create new roles focused on value creation, oversight and strategy.
-
Is agentic AI just a smarter chatbot? expandable section
No. Agentic AI is context-aware, adaptive, and capable of autonomous action.
-
Is agentic ai inherently unsafe? expandable section
No. With the right design, controls, and human-in-the-loop frameworks, agentic AI can be deployed safely and ethically.
Responsible innovation at Lloyds Banking Group
At Lloyds Banking Group, responsible AI is at the core of our strategy. We have built rigorous testing, human oversight, and scenario planning into every deployment. Our Responsible AI team ensures that every agent operates within clear guardrails, with real-time monitoring and escalation protocols.
2026 is the year agentic AI moves from promise to practice. For the Group, it's an opportunity to lead - not just in technology, but in trust, responsibility, and customer value. For the wider industry, it's a call to reimagine what is possible, to embrace the future with ambition and care.
The journey is just beginning.
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Rohit Dhawan
Group Head of Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Rohit Dhawan is the Group Executive Director of Artificial Intelligence at Lloyds Banking Group in the UK, where he leads a multidisciplinary team of AI specialists, data engineers, data scientists, and AI ethicists.
A prominent figure in data and AI strategy, Dr. Dhawan is a seasoned C-suite operator and a published author. Previously, Dr. Dhawan served as the Regional Head of Data & AI Strategy for Amazon Web Services in the Asia Pacific region, covering South-East Asia, Australia, and Japan. Dr. Dhawan retains a PhD in AI and a Master's degree in IT from the University of Sydney.
Lloyds Banking Group plc published this content on January 21, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on January 21, 2026 at 16:43 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]