“Whatever you do, include artificial intelligence,” Herman Gref, President and Chairman of Sberbank, told students in a lecture at the NUST MISIS University.
According to the head of Sberbank, artificial intelligence is a universal competency for all professions without exception and one of the keys that create new opportunities in any job, while digital skills are among the key competencies for the future.
Sberbank is now moving towards the implementation of the AI First concept pioneered by Google, Herman Gref said; at Sberbank, this means the presence of artificial intelligence in any product.
Due to this strategy, Sberbank could reduce its back office staff from 60K to 55K and redistribute the freed human resources to customer service. Sberbank also has 35K engineers developing technologies and products.
According to Herman Gref, it is time companies should start thinking about “responsible artificial intelligence” practices, which would include addressing ethical problems, management and control issues, the use of artificial intelligence exclusively for the benefit of mankind, and data confidentiality.
While admitting that these issues are not yet on the current agenda, Herman Gref said:
“If this question is going to arise the day after tomorrow, it means it should be addressed today.”