DBS's First Group COO on Making AI Transformation Stick: Lead with the 'Why'

Singapore's biggest bank is betting that the hardest part of an AI transformation is not the technology — it is persuading 36,000 employees to come along. That is the argument Derrick Goh, DBS's first-ever group chief operating officer, makes as he oversees the execution of the bank's artificial intelligence strategy, from agentic assistants for corporate clients to a call centre rebuilt around chatbots and co-pilots.

Goh's most visible win so far is DBS Joy, the bank's agentic AI assistant, which was rolled out to all corporate clients in Singapore and is now expanding to Hong Kong and other key markets. In the first six months of 2026, DBS Joy handled 22% more chats than the previous period, with active users up 61%. Behind the scenes, DBS merged its consumer and corporate call centres into a single AI-enabled operation: chatbots resolve routine queries in natural language, co-pilot assistants help operators with complex cases, and every call centre employee was transitioned into new or upgraded roles rather than replaced.

Goh, who took the newly created group COO role in April 2025 after 28 years in financial services, argues that transformation only sticks when leadership explains the "why" first. "You can't drive change alone, and it can't be a dictate because it's a team effort; everyone is a key piece," he told The Business Times in his first one-on-one interview with Singapore media in the role. Clarity, he says, is critical — when people are convinced, they bring different perspectives of their own.

The results point to a wider shift across Singapore's banking sector, where DBS, OCBC and UOB are all racing to put agentic AI into production. OCBC is using similar technology to accelerate wealth client onboarding, while MAS has set up a joint taskforce with the banking industry to manage AI-driven cyber and technology risks. Banks here are moving past pilots into full deployment, and the operational redesign — not the model choice — is emerging as the differentiator.

Why it matters for Singapore: DBS is the reference case for AI transformation in Southeast Asia's financial hub, and its experience signals how AI adoption will reshape skilled work here. The bank's approach — reskilling call centre staff into higher-value roles instead of cutting them, and treating employee buy-in as a prerequisite — offers a template for other large Singapore employers facing the same transition.