Hana Financial to nurture data experts in AI era

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, front row center, and company employees pose at the group’s headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesay of Hana Financial Group

Hana Financial Group plans to nurture 3,000 data specialists by 2027, as part of a long-term strategy to foster the global banking industry as it increasingly embraces artificial intelligence (AI) data operations, the group said Wednesday.

The new experts will help the group strengthen risk assessment, data-backed personalized services, operational efficiency and fraud prevention, all bolstered and accelerated by strong data capabilities.

The announcement came during the graduation ceremony for the third class of the Hana Data eXpert Program (DxP), held at the group’s headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday.

The new goal is the latest development in the group’s 2022 initiative, “2500 by 2025,” where Hana pledged to train 2,500 data experts by 2025.

The Hana DxP program is designed to nurture employees who can combine technical data skills with financial expertise.

Members of the latest course completed a three-month training where they deepened their understanding of data management theories, hands-on data analysis and AI tool training. Also included were financial data analytics, coding, data preprocessing and visualization.

Participants also completed team-based projects to find solutions for real-world banking needs applications.

Among the projects were ways to forecast residential prices in Seoul to introduce new financial services, and evaluating loan risks for small businesses using commercial district analysis. Projects developing financial product recommendations for foreign customers were also included.

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo said the initiative is expected to strengthen AI and digital capabilities of young, talented workers.

“These young data-savvy experts will define the future of the financial industry. We will continue to invest to nurture data talents that develop simple, convenient and customer-centered financial services.”

Hana plans to continue strengthening the DxP program, while providing AI and data literacy education to its employees.

The company's long-term vision is to build a system where every employee can utilize AI and data effectively, contributing to faster and smarter services.