Major Australian bank ANZ has appointed its first chief AI officer as it looks to join the ranks of banks globally pushing for AI investment and implementation.
As originally reported by Capital Brief, ANZ Group Holdings announced that it has appointed Kai Yang, a former HSBC Holdings chief data and analytics officer for Asia and the Middle East, to the position. Yang will begin in the role in July, after he relocates from Hong Kong.
In the role, Yang will be responsible for leading ANZ’s AI and data plans and implementation enterprise-wide, as well as bolstering its capabilities, empowering responsible use of the technology, and uplifting governance.
You’re out of free articles for this month
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Yang has extensive experience in data strategy, data engineering, data governance, AI and analytics over his 25-year career. Before HSBC, he held leadership positions at CBA, including chief data officer and CommInsure chief risk officer.
According to a spokesperson for the bank, speaking with Capital Brief, the role reflects the importance of data and AI to ANZ’s future growth and outcomes.
It also aligns them with fellow big four Australian banks: Westpac, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), and NAB.
Yang is the latest talent ANZ has poached from HSBC, having hired CEO Nuno Matos from there last year. It also appointed Donald Patra as chief information officer in October 2025. The new AI role will report to Patra, who, in turn, will report to Matos.
Other banks bolstering AI teams
News of ANZ’s new role comes just as Westpac has strengthened its AI team, having just appointed former Meta and CBA engineer Maggie Shi to the position of chief AI innovation officer.
“I’m excited to share that I’m joining Westpac as chief AI innovation officer,” she said in a post on LinkedIn.
“[This] is a newly created role focused on helping drive AI and GenAI adoption at enterprise scale, bringing together AI, engineering, data, and automation to create meaningful and lasting impact.”
According to reports, the chief AI innovation officer position will see Shi cover the incubation and scaling of technological solutions that are powered by AI, including the trialling and prototyping of solutions across agentic and generative AI systems.
Shi will report to Andrew McMullan, Westpac’s chief data, digital and AI officer. McMullan also formerly worked at CBA.
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?
Make Cyber Daily a preferred news source on Google.
Daniel Croft
Born in the heart of Western Sydney, Daniel Croft is a passionate journalist with an understanding for and experience writing in the technology space. Having studied at Macquarie University, he joined Momentum Media in 2022, writing across a number of publications including Australian Aviation, Cyber Security Connect and Defence Connect. Outside of writing, Daniel has a keen interest in music, and spends his time playing in bands around Sydney.
Tags: