Backbase, the global engagement banking platform announced on July 31 the establishment of its first global Center of Excellence (COE) focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Ho Chi Minh City. 

Backbase's strategic decision to establish this COE in Vietnam underscores its commitment to Asia.

The Google's report showed that Vietnam's digital economy growth rate is the fastest in Southeast Asia for two consecutive years (28 per cent in 2022 and 19 per cent in 2023), 3.5 times higher than the GDP growth rate. The Ministry of Information and Communications estimates that the proportion of the digital economy in Vietnam's GDP in 2023 will reach 16.5 per cent.

According to the National Committee for Digital Transformation, by 2025, the digital economy will account for over 20 per cent of the country's GDP, growing from 20 - 25 per cent per year, 3 times higher than GDP growth.

According to Backbase, Vietnam is pegged as the fastest growing digital economy in Southeast Asia and recognized for its  rapid digital transformation, innovative spirit, and growing pool of talent.

Vietnam has become one of the fastest growing markets in Asia of Backbase, with key banks including Techcombank, TPBank, ABBANK, and OCB driving digital transformation through the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform.

"Vietnam is a crucial part of our global strategy," said Mr. Chris Shayan, Backbase's Head of AI. "Having managed an 800-person team, of which 99 per cent were Vietnamese, I can personally attest to the remarkable potential of Vietnamese talent in technology and innovation."

Vietnam is growing to be a key hub for teams to come together from all across the Southeast Asian region and beyond. Through its investments in Vietnam, Backbase is set to redefine the boundaries of AI in the banking sector, driving innovation, customer engagement, and business growth for banks globally.

Accordingly, the COE will serve as the development hub for Backbase’s AI banking solutions worldwide.

Mr. Shayan shared that at this stage, our focus for the COE is to harness this talent pool to create world-leading AI capabilities that help banks solve business problems on a global scale, leveraging the wealth of knowledge and experience from Backbase’s portfolio of banks and tech experts.

The Center of Excellence will harness AI to deepen the value our customers can obtain from the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform, by increasing customer usage and servicing experience, as well as provide access to analytics for informed decision-making, he noted.

The Center of Excellence aims to vertically integrate AI to uplift customer lifetime value and accelerate development and deployment of products for banks to have access to AI-driven features soon, he added.

A forecast by McKinsey predicts that generative AI has the potential to create up to $340 billion in value for banks, while still in the nascent stages of AI development in the region.

The COE will prioritize practical AI applications to enhance business outcomes, rather than focusing solely on R&D efforts. The goal is to create AI capabilities that accelerate customer lifetime value and engagement, integrating these solutions seamlessly on top of Backbase's existing architecture.