The $8.2 billion b1BANK wants employees to be comfortable with AI, so it’s getting the tech into their hands.  

The bank, which serves Louisiana and Texas, built a small language model in-house to help employees access bank policies and procedures through an AI-driven chatbot, Chief Executive Jude Melville told FinAi News.  

The chatbot can answer questions regarding employee matters, Melville said, noting the company handbook has been integrated into the model. 

It’s also a great resource for new employees to understand policies and procedures rather than going through “thousands of pages of policies,” he said. 

The chatbot is “a great example of where AI is giving us the ability to ultimately be more efficient,” he said. “It’s really about ‘How can I get our teammates comfortable [with AI].”  

Employees should view AI as an enhancer, not a challenge to their employment, he said. “My goal is to make [AI] something that’s clearly value added … something that enables versus something that displaces.” 

In selecting where to deploy AI, it’s about selecting processes or areas that make it obvious to the bank’s roughly 950 employees “that this is actually going to make their life better,” Melville said. 

Scaling AI adoption

Other FIs are also pushing AI adoption.  

First Internet Bank, for one, has rolled out Microsoft Copilot to all its employees to promote the use of AI across the institution, CEO David Becker previously told FinAi News. 

Bank employees are encouraged to use Copilot to review emails, for example, he said, also noting that it’s about getting employees “comfortable.” 

Other institutions including BMO and Thread Bank are also promoting basic AI training, according to previous reporting by FinAi News. 

Register here for the upcoming FinAi Lending Summit, set for Oct. 7-8 in Las Vegas.