From AI theory to application at Close Brothers

The scale of the AI opportunity is not in question for Close Brothers:  “AI is one of the most significant technology shifts of our generation,” says Yogesh Sholapurkar, Group CTO at the specialist banking group. The big question is, what would separate the organisations that successfully capitalise on that shift from the ones who watch it pass them by? 

“Those likely to succeed are the ones who combine the right technology with the right skill set,” adds Yogesh. “Which is why upskilling our workforce is such a strategic priority for us.”

Close Brothers Chief Executive, Mike Morgan, adds the commercial perspective: “Competitive advantage comes from helping your people learn, grow, and adapt to the possibilities that AI brings.”

And so the bank’s objective was not to deploy AI tools around the workforce, but to build a workforce capable of deploying AI in the right place at the right time. “Allowing it to work alongside our people and augment them in their day-to-day jobs,” says Mike.

Learn it in the morning, apply it in the afternoon

To achieve this, Close Brothers partnered with Multiverse to deliver a programme of data and AI apprenticeships aligned to the bank's Optimise and Grow strategic pillars.

The programmes run on two tracks:

• Raising everyday productivity by upskilling colleagues with M365 and AI tools.
• Training citizen developers who can build reusable AI solutions themselves.

Both rest on a foundation of responsible AI governance, and use an applied learning model, meaning courses are run inside working hours and participants' own real-world work forms the core learning material.

For Jay Palan, Enterprise Integration Practice Manager, this immediacy was the difference maker compared to other types of training. “Whatever I learned in the morning session, I was able to apply straight away in the afternoon,” he says. “Generative AI is more of a theoretical aspect, but here the hands-on aspect was quite significant and a game changer for our organisation.”

The curriculum pairs technical depth with the skills needed to convert that knowledge into impact. “I really enjoyed the soft skills part of it, the modules where you would develop your project managing skills or your time management or stakeholder engagement,” says Josefina Bourdieu, Senior ALM Analyst. “It's a fantastic way of learning new skills while doing the job.”

Deeper skills, broader capabilities, new career opportunities

The returns are showing up in what teams can now do, how widely they can do it, and where it takes them next.

• Value delivery at greater scale. “The programme's helping the team to develop more in-depth skills,” says Mike Morgan. “It's opening opportunities for them to deliver at scale compared to what we've originally been able to accomplish.”
• Broader data governance capability. Teams have dramatically enhanced their expertise across data governance and data security, according to Elizabeth Martine, Controls Design & Oversight Director — “which has really helped broaden their skillset.” 
• Stronger collaboration across the business. Elizabeth adds that, as a result, “they've been able to work together across the bank to really make things better in terms of capability and capacity.”
• Internal career mobility. Vicky Cousins joined the Data Fellowship programme from a role in operational excellence: “I was keen to move into a data orientated role. The apprenticeship gave me that confidence — I applied for a job as a data analyst and I secured the role!”
• A foundation for what comes next. “AI will be absolutely core to the process of building digital experiences and software applications to serve our customers' needs,” says Jag Bassi, Director of Technology Product. “There are going to be so many different opportunities of how we embed it into the business.

People-powered transformation

Mike is clear on the critical role the workforce will play in accelerating Close Brothers’ transformation, and the need to give them the skills to make it happen.

“You must move fast on this to engage the whole of your workforce, and you need to allow them to experiment,” he says. “That's critical here. Think of it as a business and a people transformation, not as a technology transformation.”