Sber cuts out its own path in world of artificial intelligence

Sber, the biggest commercial bank in Russia, has been advancing technology in the banking industry and other sectors. Sberbank's President and Chairman Herman Gref has shared his views on the technologies Sber is exporting, the capabilities of its GigaChat neural network model, and the links between human-centricity and artificial intelligence.

Sber is not only a bank but also a leading tech company. What technologies are you focusing on and which of them can you offer for export?

Sber is a global leader in the development of AI, robotics and unmanned vehicles. We have already deployed AI in 85 percent of our internal banking processes.

At the same time, we are constantly sharing our technologies: our GigaChat and Kandinsky AI services are available as open-source and known throughout the world.

In just a few seconds, the Kandinsky neural network can generate an image from a text prompt in natural language. It can combine drawings, alter them on the basis of text prompts, create images similar to a preset image, complete parts of a picture and form an image in an endless loop mode. GigaChat can answer users' questions, conduct a dialogue, and create text and pictures from descriptive prompts. It is being used not just by ordinary people but also by more than 4,000 companies.

We also have unique AI solutions for sustainable development. We have developed AI models for predicting climate risk events, such as fires, floods, storms and permafrost thaw, and calculating their economic effect. Sber is ready to demonstrate these and other solutions to its partners.

Can you tell us about the recent developments of Sber's GigaChat neural network?

GigaChat recently celebrated its first anniversary. It was one of the first models in the world to pass a university entrance exam in social studies and a doctor's graduation exam in a medical college.

According to Arabian Business, the GigaChat language model is one of the five best AI services in the world, and Giga-Chat PRO has beaten OpenAI's ChatGPT 3.5 in the quality of replies in the Russian language.

We realize that people want to communicate with AI in the same way as with other human beings. And this requires multimodality, which we are developing in GigaChat. I believe that in just a few years from now, people will have AI-powered personal assistants, and we have already begun creating such an assistant on the basis of Giga-Chat.

The economic effect from the deployment of AI in Sber amounted to 83.7 billion yuan ($11.56 billion) between 2021 and 2023, and we expect this to increase to 103.9 billion yuan by 2026. Every 1 yuan invested by Sber in AI technology in 2023 has generated a return of 7 yuan.

In 2023, you announced a human-centric strategy for Sber. Not many companies around the world follow such a strategy. Why did you decide to change the business' trajectory?

The contemporary business model of global companies is built on extracting immediate benefit and growing consumption. I think this consumerist attitude toward the customer will become a thing of the past.

In the human-centric model, the company helps people to achieve their life goals and the purpose of business is to make people happy. So, we are investing in people's trust. But it's critically important to understand the life situation and social role that each person finds themselves in at any specific moment. And this is why we need technology: we want AI to help people be aware that they are making a decision, to show them all the available options and explain the long-term consequences of the choices they make. We will then be able to build a lifelong relationship of trust with them, which is good for people and for us too.

How do you think the global economy and — against that backdrop — the Russian economy, are going to develop?

Global GDP is considered to be growing at 3 percent per annum on average. And this growth will largely come from developing countries, including China, whose economy is capable of growing by 5-5.5 percent per annum.

The share of GDP accounted for by developing countries based on parity purchasing power will continue to increase. According to the International Monetary Fund, it is currently 59 percent and by 2030 could reach 62 percent.

Russia's GDP is predicted to grow by 1-2 percent per annum, with continued investment in the country's socioeconomic development. In 2023 alone, this increased by 8.8 percent.

I've already mentioned the effect of AI in Sber, but taking a broader view, smart technologies boost labor productivity many times over. So, in the coming decade, the deployment of AI in all industries and spheres of life will become a defining factor in the growth of prosperity.