ANZ partners with Microsoft to launch AI Immersion Centre

ANZ has announced the opening of its AI Immersion Centre in partnership with Microsoft at its Melbourne headquarters. This facility, located at 833 Collins Street, is the first of its kind in the banking sector across Australia and New Zealand. The centre is expected to accelerate AI adoption at scale, with plans to train 3,000 ANZ leaders over the next year.

Designed to provide hands-on learning experiences, the AI Immersion Centre will focus on helping ANZ leaders understand and safely implement generative AI across the bank’s operations. To support these efforts, ANZ has secured 3,000 Copilot for Microsoft 365 licenses. Gerard Florian, ANZ Group Executive of Technology, emphasized the bank's commitment to leveraging generative AI to enhance customer experiences, streamline operations, and meet regulatory standards.

ANZ Group Executive of Technology, Gerard Florian:

We are actively embracing generative AI across all lines of our business to improve how we serve and protect our customers, process work and meet regulatory standards. Applied safely, generative AI can enhance experiences for customers and employees, and help us generate business outcomes faster, with lower risk and at lower cost.

The initiative aligns with findings from Microsoft and LinkedIn’s 2024 Work Trend Index, which reveals that Australia and New Zealand are leading in workplace adoption of generative AI, with usage rates significantly above the global average.

This centre represents a crucial step in ANZ's broader strategy to foster AI-driven innovation and transformation in banking services.