Commerzbank puts AI KPIs on the table

Oliver Dörler, Chief Data and AI Officer at Commerzbank, committed to specific numbers and KPIs for AI in the Börsen-Zeitung at the end of April — a level of clarity I rarely hear from large German corporations. By 2028, the bank plans to invest 140 million euros in AI, generate a value contribution of 300 million euros from that investment, and keep its headcount stable at 36,700 full-time positions.

Some of these KPIs sound more conclusive than they are. Whether Ava, the virtual assistant in the banking app, really closes three quarters of customer inquiries autonomously depends on what counts as an inquiry — and which customers don't even turn to the avatar in the first place. What matters more to me, though, is something else: a clear three-year corridor that Dörler can be measured against later on.

I find the 4,100 internal assistants built on Sherlock.AI just as remarkable — across 36,700 employees. How many people actually built them isn't in the report. Whatever the distribution: this only happens when central IT allows building and provides the platform for it. This combination (internal build platform plus permission to build for business units) is rare.

Just as telling is what's not in the report. Commerzbank lists four active applications, all in support functions: customer service, internal knowledge search, fraud detection, document processing. Credit decisions, pricing, and risk models go unmentioned — exactly what a bank actually does. Even at a 2.1x return expectation, Commerzbank doesn't dare go near the core business. Companies that open AI initiatives with "AI will revolutionize our business model" start one stage too early on current AI maturity models.

Article: https://www.boersen-zeitung.de/banken-finanzen/nicht-im-hype-sondern-in-der-realitaet