Tan Su Shan, the world's sixth most powerful businesswoman, is leading DBS Bank, Southeast Asia's largest lender, into the AI era with a vision that goes beyond conventional chatbots and automation. Since becoming CEO in March 2025, she has steered the bank towards embedding generative and agentic AI across its operations, preparing for a future where AI agents conduct financial transactions directly with one another.
Tan's leadership has resulted in the creation of around 26,000 personal AI agents and the operation of over 2,000 AI models by the end of 2025. This shift is transformative, as Tan describes it, marking a leapfrog in banking where customers won't need banking applications anymore. Instead, AI agents could communicate directly with the bank's AI systems to transfer money, apply for loans, and manage investments.
DBS has already integrated AI into its business, with employees using an internal platform called DBS-GPT for knowledge search, policy access, research, and building AI assistants. This technology is deployed across legal, compliance, institutional banking, marketing, and wealth management, reducing manual work and speeding up processes.
The bank's AI initiatives have generated an estimated S$1 billion in economic value in 2025 through increased revenue and lower operating costs. Tan's philosophy is that AI should augment employees rather than replace them, and she has encouraged adoption by senior executives with a slogan-printed T-shirt challenge. She believes that AI will help relationship managers generate better ideas for clients and increase transaction activity.
Tan's journey in banking, spanning over three decades, has been instrumental in shaping her AI ambitions. She has led various business units at DBS, including wealth management, consumer banking, and institutional banking, contributing to about 90% of the bank's revenue. Tan's technical expertise and collaborative leadership were recognized by Piyush Gupta, her predecessor, who wanted a leader who could combine both skills.
DBS is expanding its AI investments, with Singapore's three largest banks increasing their technology spending. The bank is pushing further into customer-facing AI, cutting onboarding times for new wealth clients by half and speeding up decisions. Tan's vision includes preparing for a future where AI agents may replace traditional banking apps, but she emphasizes that human relationships will remain essential.
Despite the advancements, Tan remains cautious about the risks associated with AI, including cybersecurity, trust, and data privacy. She emphasizes the need for human oversight in critical decisions, such as AI-assisted credit assessments. Tan's AI journey began in 2014 with a wealth advisory platform, and she believes that learning from early setbacks is crucial for success in the AI era.
In conclusion, Tan Su Shan's leadership at DBS Bank is shaping the future of banking with AI, while also recognizing the importance of human relationships in the financial industry.
