Lloyds Banking Group's Pioneering Use of AI at Scale Transforms Employee Experience and Operations

Overview

As part of a £4bn technology investment, Lloyds Banking Group rolled out Microsoft 365 Copilot starting with 300 licences via Microsoft's Early Access Program, scaling to a commitment of 40,000 licences by March 2025. A 1,000-strong network of volunteer 'flight-instructors' and weekly 'promptathons' supported adoption, reaching a 93% daily usage rate among licensed colleagues. Nearly 5,000 UK engineers use GitHub Copilot; one team converted 11,000 lines of code across 83 files, cutting a 65-hour task to 30 hours.

The challenge

Lloyds Banking Group wanted to scale AI across the bank to reimagine every area of the business, but the first challenge was getting people using Microsoft 365 Copilot and understanding how generative AI could improve their day-to-day working lives. Separately, the bank's engineers faced the challenge of managing legacy systems and codebases built up over decades, which developers specialising in modern languages often have little knowledge of.

The solution

In 2023 Lloyds Banking Group embarked on a £4bn investment in technology, data and AI, starting with 300 Microsoft 365 Copilot licences through Microsoft's Early Access Program, with departments bidding for licences against a clear business case and measurable goals. GitHub Copilot was also rolled out to help engineers work with unfamiliar legacy codebases.

Reported business value

The bank reached a 93% daily Copilot usage rate among the 30,000 colleagues with licences, with more than 10,000 people trained by a 1,000-strong network of volunteer 'flight-instructors'. Nearly 5,000 UK engineers now use GitHub Copilot; one team converted 11,000 lines of code across 83 files in half the expected time, turning a 65-hour task into a 30-hour one.