Producer’s note: This episode was recorded in August of 2024.

On the 48th episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, hosts Evan Reiser (Abnormal Security) and Saam Motamedi (Greylock Partners) talk with  Sathish Muthukrishnan, Chief Information, Data, and Digital Officer of Ally Financial. Ally is an American bank holding company with over $8 billion in annual revenue and over 11,000 employees. The company provides auto financing, mortgage loans, banking, and other financial services to 11 million customers across the United States. In this conversation, Sathish explores Ally's groundbreaking journey from mainframes to AI-powered banking, the game-changing role of generative AI in customer support, and his predictions for how AI will redefine personal banking.

Ally's transformation into a digital banking powerhouse took time. As Sathish recounts, this journey was built on thoughtful investments in technology, starting with a solid data and cloud infrastructure foundation. "Ninety percent of our data is in the cloud," Sathish explains, emphasizing how this deliberate approach has enabled seamless integration across systems. With 76% of Ally's applications now cloud-enabled and supported by a software-defined network, the bank is primed to capitalize on AI innovations. This foundation led to creating OneAlly, a unified digital canvas that serves all of Ally's businesses and customers. Ally has shifted its focus from products to experiences by consolidating disparate systems into a single platform. As Sathish puts it, "Customers aren't just looking for loans or mortgages—they're looking for solutions that fulfill their life goals." This shift exemplifies how Ally uses technology to meet customer needs in a deeply personalized way.

Sathish explains Ally's approach to generative AI as guided by a few core principles. It prioritizes use cases that improve internal processes as the technology evolves, ensuring a human is always in the loop for critical decisions. At the same time, Ally protects sensitive information by building an internal Ally AI platform. This platform allows the bank to adopt emerging AI technologies seamlessly while retaining control over its data. By adhering to these principles, Ally has enhanced operational efficiency and improved its ability to integrate new advancements in AI. One of Ally's most impactful applications of AI lies in transforming customer support. As Sathish notes, "Customer care associates talk to our customers on an average 10,000 times a day. Every call is about 12 to 15 minutes." Previously, associates would manually summarize each interaction—a time-consuming process prone to human error. "Enter Gen AI," he continues, "it's capturing the entire conversation, transcribing it, and creating a summary for our associates to look at it and say, 'these are the conversations I had. Here are the takeaways,' and just click approve." By automating this process, AI has streamlined operations, enabling associates to focus on delivering exceptional service while improving efficiency.

Looking ahead, Sathish envisions a future where AI plays a central role in delivering hyper-personalized banking experiences. "Our customers are looking for transportation, wealth creation, to build a family and create memories." He elaborates that AI will enable banks to anticipate these needs by helping customers make better financial decisions, such as identifying optimal savings or investment opportunities. For example, Sathish sees a scenario where a bank might proactively guide a customer to buy their dream home without overextending their budget or even assist in planning their child's birthday party to make every detail as memorable as possible. While these ideas may seem futuristic, they're not far off. "Nobody thought we would jump in a stranger's car and immediately trust them or live in a stranger's house and think it was safe," Sathish explains. He adds, "The technology of tomorrow will make what seems like science fiction today feel like common sense." With services like Uber and Airbnb, we have adopted many of these activities, once considered dangerous, as part of our everyday lives. These examples illustrate how quickly innovations that seemed implausible became integrated into society.

Ally's journey from mainframes to AI-powered banking exemplifies the transformative potential of technology when paired with bold vision and strategic investment. By prioritizing customer experiences, leveraging generative AI, and staying ahead of the innovation curve, Ally is not just meeting today's needs but shaping tomorrow's banking landscape. As Sathish says, "The key to success lies in connecting the dots—solving critical problems and empowering both employees and customers to use technology effectively and safely." The future of banking is here, and Ally is helping to lead the charge.

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Listen to Satish's episode here and read the transcript here.