Inside Bank of Singapore’s data-driven transformation

Bank of Singapore’s chief data and innovation officer Céline Le Cotonnec is searching for a “single source of truth” in her bid to future-proof private banking operations.

When Céline Le Cotonnec joined Bank of Singapore five years ago, her main challenge was to convince bankers and bosses that a new culture of innovation must extend well beyond digital tools or dashboards.

“In any transformation project, 20 per cent is platform, 20 per cent is process and governance, and 60 per cent is mindset of people,” she says.

Today, as chief data and innovation officer, she leads a 40-person team driving not just data governance, new technology adoption and process re-engineering, but also a deep cultural shift, placing data fluency and empowerment at the heart of private banking.

Initially hired to craft the bank’s data strategy and lead its innovation lab, Ms Le Cotonnec soon found that the two efforts were inseparable, especially with the rise of AI. “Over time, we realised that innovation and data were deeply interconnected,” she explains. “So, we merged both teams.”

At the centre of her strategy is a unified data infrastructure which is capturing the industry’s imaginations — what she calls a “single source of truth”. By breaking down silos, the bank is enabling seamless data access across departments. “You remove the mundane task of trying to find the information. It’s already clean, refreshed, available for everyone to work with. Then further innovation can happen.”

People versus platforms

Transformation, according to Ms Le Cotonnec, is more about people than platforms. “It’s very important to increase the level of data literacy in the organisation,” she says. Under her leadership, the bank has adopted a decentralised ‘hub-and-spoke’ model, with a central data team supporting smaller analytical teams embedded within functions like risk, compliance, HR and finance. This differs from many rivals, where the tech team sits separately to other functions.

Rather than building tools for others, her team teaches staff to build their own. An early milestone was a bank-wide data literacy challenge involving senior leaders and staff alike. “Everybody got to learn the basics: data quality, management, vocabulary and values behind data analytics,” she recalls. Since last year, data literacy training has been mandatory for all employees.

The goal is autonomy. Staff are encouraged to use Python — a widely adopted open-source programming language — to automate tasks and streamline work. “We’re encouraging people to automate their own tasks before they’re automated by IT systems,” she says. “They know their work best, so we equip them with the skills to take the lead.”

In under nine months, her team developed 67 internal applications to reduce bottlenecks. End-to-end trackers have improved processes like client onboarding and workflow transparency. “You can’t improve what you can’t track,” she adds.

A key metric for success is data accessibility. “When I joined, less than 5 per cent of employees could access data and do their own reporting. Now, 500 people are querying data daily from a single data lake,” she says.

Even relationship managers are learning to code. “They can now write a small SQL programme, hit a button, and get the answer instantly, in front of the client. I don't think many other banks can say the same.” Real-time insights enhance trust and client engagement, helping drive “more meaningful conversations around portfolio strategy”, she adds.

Her team also oversees essential data governance, ensuring data quality, security and the acquisition of external datasets. “Access to reliable external data is critical for valuation and pricing,” she notes, citing partnerships with Bloomberg, the London Stock Exchange and major rating agencies. As ESG and digital assets grow in importance, she adds, trustworthy data is vital for both regulatory compliance and maintaining a competitive edge.

Their work also feeds into the bank’s investment strategy. “One major initiative is redefining our strategic asset allocation using advanced modelling techniques,” she says. The goal is not to chase high returns, but to build portfolios that can withstand market volatility. “Maybe the return might not be the highest, but your portfolio will be resilient to volatility.”

Generative AI is already deployed to assist product specialists, draft portfolio commentaries and push timely alerts through internal tools like Holmes AI, “which notifies relationship managers of news affecting client holdings, before clients call”.

Yet, Ms Le Cotonnec is clear-eyed about the limits of data in private banking. Unlike retail banking or digital platforms such as Netflix or Amazon, firms have limited access to client lifestyle data, relying primarily on investment information, she says. “We’re a high-touch business, so much of the client insight is shared verbally in meetings and never captured digitally.”

Even so, she sees strong potential. “If AI can help with idea generation and write-ups, advisers can spend more time with clients and less time in front of a screen.”

AI also boosts internal efficiency in areas like compliance and risk. But human oversight remains essential. “Relationship managers will always review AI-generated outputs.”

Nurturing the data family

A mother of four, Ms Le Cotonnec brings a people-first approach to digital transformation. “Family comes first,” she says. “I really enjoy seeing my team grow, not just professionally, but personally too.”

This philosophy extends to the workplace culture. “We talk about the ‘data family’. Anyone interested in data can be part of it,” she says, noting their Teams channel is one of the bank’s most active, with 800 members.

Just as important to her is the human impact of their work: “When someone says, ‘You helped me automate a task, learn something new, and improve my life,’ that’s incredibly rewarding.”

Diversity is also central to her vision. Leading the Women in Tech programme at Bank of Singapore, she launched an AI literacy programme for women employees and recently partnered with Microsoft on ‘Code; Without barriers’ to upskill female employees in areas like prompt engineering, analytics and AI tools such as Copilot.

“AI will impact jobs, especially repetitive tasks still mostly done by women,” she says. “It’s important to upskill women so they’re ready for what's to come.”

One of Ms Le Cotonnec’s biggest strengths is her cross-industry perspective. She actively benchmarks against industries like healthcare and automotive and invests in emerging tech and blockchain. “It helps me keep an open mind and stay ahead,” she says, pointing to the “huge potential” in areas like tokenisation and cryptocurrencies.

Drawing on her background in Internet of Things and self-driving cars, she launched a pilot two years ago project with an impact fund and a blockchain provider, using real-time sensor data to track solar output. “We were able to show clients exactly how much CO₂ was saved through a specific solar investment,” she explains.

Deep connections

Named as Best Digital Leader in PWM’s Wealth Tech Awards 2025, Ms Le Cotonnec is praised by judges for her ability to align strategy, people, technology and culture.

"In the past, leadership was only viewed as strength and brains,” says April Rudin, founder and president of The Rudin Group. “Now we recognise the importance of using both sides of the brain in wealth management and technology.” Culture, team building, and the ability to connect deeply with both clients and talent are essential qualities for today’s leaders, adds Ms Rudin, especially as women around the world increasingly create and inherit wealth, making female leadership more critical than ever.

Alois Pirker, CEO of US consultancy Pirker Partners, says Ms Le Cotonnec is “leading the charge on one of the biggest challenges in finance today, the creation of a unified data infrastructure”. Her dual role in data and innovation, he adds, “uniquely” positions her to drive impactful tech adoption, including AI.

Her emphasis on mindset and enablement, empowering teams and building the bank’s data fluency sets Ms Le Cotonnec apart from competitors, according to Sandra Daub, executive board member at Noumena Digital in Zurich.

Deep understanding of the challenges GenAI poses in a privacy-first, relationship-driven industry, and her commitment to addressing them, is also crucial. “She is not just leading transformation but redefining it,” adds Ms Daub.

Ms Le Cotonnec’s cross-industry experience, including in Web3 and digital advisory, also brings a forward-looking perspective to a sector that often prioritises risk over innovation.

Innovation frustration

Innovation in banking faces real constraints, Ms Le Cotonnec acknowledges, from legacy systems to strict regulatory checks. While new technologies like cloud and blockchain are standard elsewhere, adoption in finance remains slow.

“What’s most frustrating is seeing other industries move so much faster, thanks to more modern infrastructure,” she admits. “But when you’re dealing with people’s money and critical data, we have to get it right.”

Crucially, she credits executive support as a key enabler, noting her direct hire by the CEO, a dedicated budget, and monthly leadership meeting to review data initiatives. “It’s very important to get buy-in from the entire management team,” says Ms Le Cotonnec.

Experimentation and agility are key to sustainable innovation, she says. Her team builds prototypes using low-cost tools, which are later scaled by the transformation team. “The motto of my team is: ‘If we don’t try, then we don’t fail’. We need to be okay with failure — at a limited cost.”

Ultimately, her mission is not just to digitalise processes but to empower people. “We’re not just analysts and scientists; we’re helping people gain new skills, transform, and prepare for the world of tomorrow, which will be an AI-driven world.”