What is this position about? 

We are seeking a strategic, forward-thinking and impact-driven Head of AI Center of Excellence (CoE) to lead our AI and Generative AI (GenAI) strategy & implementation. This role will drive the next wave of innovation using AI and/or GenAI to transform how we serve clients, empower front office colleagues and other business functions, generate insights, —all while ensuring compliance, governance, and ethical AI practices. 

As the Head of AI CoE, you will oversee a high-performing team, define AI and GenAI capabilities, and act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership. You will champion the responsible design and deployment of GenAI tools that scale across regions and functions—from intelligent client assistants and hyper-personalized advice to generative research, smart automation, and advisor copilots. 

This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in establishing our Asia AI Center of Excellence (COE) under the leadership of the Chief Digital & Data Officer. In this high-impact role, you will leverage cutting-edge machine learning and AI techniques to drive data-centric innovations in wealth management with the following key objectives:

• Define, prioritize & execute our AI strategy & plan, Maximize AI’s value creation

• Identify key technologies & partners to design & implement the entity’s AI governance,

• Build its tech stack, workflows, processes & standards for development & industrialization

• Leverage the Group AI ecosystem to optimize synergies & re-use of common, standardized tech stacks

• Under a “One Bank” approach, develop collaborations with other Group entities (CIB, AM & Retail banks).

• Promote a “analytics” & “AI everywhere, for everyone” mindset for all BNPP Wealth Management staff 

Your expertise will be crucial in shaping the AI strategy, developing advanced analytics models, and ensuring that AI technologies are embedded seamlessly into various client-facing and business functions. This is a chance to be part of a transformative journey as we set the foundation for AI-driven solutions in our Bank. 

Primary Role Responsibilities

AI Center of Excellence Development:

Partner with the Chief Digital & Data Officer and senior leadership to build and expand the AI Center of Excellence (COE), setting the strategic direction for AI adoption across the bank. Champion best practices, governance, and ethical AI frameworks, ensuring that AI initiatives align with the bank’sbroader digital transformation objectives. Exhibit AI & GenAI Strategy Leadership in definining and leading AI/GenAI strategy aligned to the goals of the business, identify high-impact GenAI use cases (e.g., investment research synthesis, client Q&A bots, advisor enablement copilots, KYC document summarization), act as a key advisor to senior leadership on GenAI trends, risks (e.g., hallucination, IP leakage), and opportunities within the financial advisory lifecycle.

Industrialization of our AI Priorities:

Drive AI-powered initiatives by developing advanced machine learning models that tailor banking

services and financial advice to the unique preferences, behaviors, and needs of each client and staff.

Utilize predictive analytics to forecast client behaviors, market trends, and potential risks. Build

advanced models for credit risk scoring, churn prediction, and portfolio optimization that enable

proactive decision-making and enhance financial outcomes. Leverage deep learning, recommender

systems, and predictive analytics to deliver individualized experiences that improve overall

satisfaction and loyalty. Partner with engineering and data science to operationalize GenAI through

secure APIs, model orchestration, and enterprise-grade architecture.

AI Model Development & Deployment:

Lead the design, development, and deployment of machine learning models, including deep learning, reinforcement learning, and natural language processing (NLP), to address business challenges in client segmentation, wealth management, fraud detection, and client experience optimization.

Collaboration Across Functions: 

Work cross-functionally with teams in Front Office, Investment services, Sales Management & 

Marketing, Credit, Control functions (Risk, Compliance, Operations etc.) to integrate AI solutions into various daily activities. Ensure that AI models are seamlessly embedded into client-facing platforms, mobile applications, and backend systems to provide a cohesive experience across all touchpoints. 

Leadership and Mentorship: 

Provide mentorship and foster a culture of innovation, knowledge-sharing, and continuous learning 

with peers & colleagues. Bring the entire workforce on the journey of AI for upskilling/ re-skilling. 

Promote AI literacy across the WM via industry partnerships particularly with tertiary institutions, 

training, documentation, and AI/GenAI fluency programs. 

Data Strategy & Data Quality: 

Ensure that high-quality, accurate, and reliable data is available for building AI models. Establish best practices for data collection, data cleaning, and data governance. Collaborate with other data-related functions to build scalable data pipelines for model training and deployment. Establish GenAI-specific evaluation metrics such as toxicity, factuality, and response quality. 

AI Ethics & Compliance: 

Ensure that AI applications comply with regulatory requirements and ethical standards, particularly in the context of Wealth Management, where sensitive client data and privacy concerns are paramount. Work with legal and compliance teams to ensure transparency, fairness, and accountability in AI model outputs. Partner with risk, legal, and compliance to validate GenAI use cases and maintain client trust.

Continuous Model Monitoring & Optimization:

Implement robust monitoring systems to track the performance of AI models and adjust for evolving client needs, business requirements, and market conditions. Optimize models in real-time based on feedback loops and ongoing performance data.

Innovation & Research:

Stay abreast of the latest advancements in AI, machine learning, and data science research. Appl ycutting-edge techniques to further improve personalization algorithms, fraud detection, and other AI powered banking solutions.

What is required for you to succeed?

Education: 

Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related field. 

Experience: 

10+ years of experience in AI/ML with at least 5 years in a senior or leadership role, preferably in financial services, banking, or technology sectors. Experience with AI implementation/industrialization in a client -centric environment (e.g., personalization, recommendations) is a strong advantage. 

Good knowledge of agile methodologies, design thinking, Test&Learn & A/B testing approaches 

Advanced Technical Expertise: 

• Strong proficiency in machine learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn) and libraries for model development. 

• Deep expertise in deep learning, reinforcement learning, and natural language processing (NLP), particularly for developing recommendation systems and personalization models. 

•Strong programming skills in Python, R, and SQL. Experience with big data technologies (Hadoop, Spark) and cloud platforms (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure). 

• Expertise in building and optimizing end-to-end machine learning pipelines and managing model 

deployment at scale. 

• Good knowledge in Generative AI specific skills: prompt engineering, RAG approaches, agentic AI, automated robustness and performance evaluation, production monitoring 

Domain Knowledge: 

Strong understanding of banking and financial services, with a focus on areas such as wealth management, client behavior & analytics, risk management and fraud detection

Leadership & Collaboration: 

Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence key stakeholders. Excellent communication skills to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences 

and to translate GenAI potential into business value.Ability to inspire cross-functional teams and influence executive decision-making. 

Ethical & Regulatory Compliance: 

Understanding of the ethical considerations of AI and its regulatory landscape in the financial sector. Experience in ensuring models comply with data privacy and GDPR regulations.

Strategic Thinking:

Experience in defining AI strategies and embedding AI into an organization’s core functions. Ability to assess business needs and translate them into actionable AI-driven solutions.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in setting up or working within an AI Center of Excellence (COE).

• Familiarity with AI-driven automation for client service (e.g., chatbots, virtual assistants).

• Advanced data visualization skills using tools like Tableau, Power BI, or custom Python libraries (e.g.,

Matplotlib, Seaborn).

• Thought leader in the AI community.

About BNP PARIBAS

As the leading European Union bank, and one of the world’s largest financial institutions with an uninterrupted presence in the region since 1860, BNP Paribas offers a wide range of financial services for corporate, institutional and private investors spanning corporate and institutional banking, wealth management, asset management and insurance. 

We passionately embrace diversity and are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where all employees are valued and encourage applicants of all backgrounds, including diversity of origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion applicants who may be living with a disability. We have a number of internal employee networks in place to empower our staff to act and challenge the status quo.

•    BNP Paribas PRIDE is highly active in favour of the LGBTQIA+ community

•    BNP Paribas MixCity which fosters better representation of women at all levels of the organization

•    Ability, the mutual aid network for employees with a disability or a disabling or chronic illness

•    BNP Paribas CulturAll which celebrates diverse backgrounds

BNP is committed to financing a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. The Group is a founding member of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance and has set up its own Low Carbon Transition Group to support its clients through their energy transitions.

https://careers.apac.bnpparibas/

More information 

BNP Paribas - Diversity & Inclusion Journey

BNP Paribas - The Bank Of Green Changes

Award Obtained

BNPP has won Top employer Europe award in a 10th consecutive year