Danske Bank UK Appoints First Head of AI
Driving Strategic Innovation and a New Centre of Excellence
Danske Bank UK has named Fiona Browne as its first Head of AI. Browne will lead the bank’s AI strategy and run a newly scaled AI Centre of Excellence in Belfast, tasked with moving generative models and data-led tools into production across the UK business.
Fiona Browne: Expertise to Lead AI Transformation
Danske’s AI Journey and Key Partnerships
Browne joins with a background in data and analytics, having held senior roles at firms including Datactics and 9fin. Her remit at Danske will cover model development, deployment, and operational governance, aligning technical teams with product and risk functions.
Danske Bank has already invested in generative AI initiatives, including an internal model known as DanskeGPT, and is working with cloud and vendor partners such as Microsoft, AWS and Xceptor. Browne’s role is to translate those investments into scaled customer and operational use cases while maintaining control frameworks for data, privacy and model risk.
The Growing Trend of Dedicated AI Leadership in Banking
Appointing a dedicated Head of AI signals a broader shift across financial services: banks are formalising AI leadership to accelerate deployment, manage model risk and coordinate cross-functional delivery. Institutions that centralise expertise tend to move faster from pilots to live services while providing clearer accountability for governance.
For executives and investors, the move at Danske Bank UK is a pragmatic step toward operationalising generative AI and advanced analytics. With a focused leader and a Belfast Centre of Excellence, the bank aims to turn experimentations into production systems that improve efficiency, speed decision making and create new data-driven products.
Expect continued investment in partnerships and talent as banks position AI at the centre of technology strategy for the coming years.
