DAIM: Inside The Algorithm | Divya Kesavan on AI Transformation in Banking: Beyond RPA and Automation

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For years, digital transformation and AI transformation have been used almost interchangeably. Divya Kesavan, Head of Data Science for Business and Commercial Banking at Lloyds Banking Group, explains why that conflation breaks down in practice.

In this episode, Divya walks Jeremy through the shift from rule-based RPA to reasoning-driven AI and why Lloyds' enterprise AI blueprint rests on three layers: reasoning, context and control. She unpacks what it actually takes to move an agentic system from a working proof of concept to a tool trusted with real banking decisions, including a striking example of an AI agent that went badly off script.

The conversation also covers governance by design in a heavily regulated environment, confidence scoring as a practical risk tool, and why agile alone cannot carry the weight of AI-led change. A grounded, experience-based look at what transformation really requires.

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If you enjoyed this conversation, check out this special episode of Data & AI Mastery where Raoul sits down with senior leaders from Lloyds to learn more about how the team is reimagining banking through AI-powered experiences:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/reimagining-lloyds-banking-group-ai-transformation/id1779783413?i=1000701688423

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/06ZBLoyvemQEVftCuWytVe?si=726cf7a2d20b4b22

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2krteWX89Q

Glossary Terms

RPA (Robotic Process Automation): software that mimics human actions on a screen to automate repetitive, rules-based tasks.

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation): a method that grounds an AI model's responses in real, relevant data retrieved at the time of the request, rather than relying solely on what the model learned during training.