UBS has hired artificial intelligence (AI) leadership from US banking giant JPMorgan as the war on AI talent in the financial sector escalates.
The Swiss bank called Daniele Magazzeni as chief artificial intelligence officer as the technology becomes a “top priority” for the organization.
Magazzeni comes from JPMorgan, where he spent nearly six years working in artificial intelligence research and its AI Center of Excellence, rising to the position of chief analyst in its commercial and investment bank.
A recent study found that US banks dominate the top ten AI leaders in the banking sector. JPMorgan ranked first in Evident's ranking Banking AI Adoption Indexand UBS took 7th placeth.
UBS said Magazzeni will “lead the company’s artificial intelligence strategy, with a focus on transforming business capabilities to improve the customer experience and enhance employee productivity.”
Mike Dargan, group chief operating officer and technology officer at UBS, said: “AI is a top priority for UBS. [Magazzeni] will further optimize the use of traditional, generative and agent-based AI capabilities to transform our end-to-end operations and deliver cutting-edge solutions to our customers.”
CEO of Evident, Alexandra Musavizadehrecently told Computer Weekly that there is a war on AI talent in the banking sector as companies try to take their AI investments to the next level. She said recruiting AI experts who can become leaders is expensive, but necessary if banks don't want to fall behind and be unable to catch up. “We are now experiencing a moment when there will come a time when you, as a lagging bank, will not be able to catch up,” Musavizadeh said. “Your talent is your destiny.”
Musavizadeh said that banks skills needed similar to those found in large tech companies promote investment in artificial intelligence and that they will increasingly recruit from each other.
Evident found that leading banks in AI maturity in 2025 have pulled away from their peers by consolidating previous gains and increasingly recognizing the return on investment of their technology spend.
Leading banks, including UBS and JPMorgan, were found to be accelerating early AI adoption at more than twice the rate of other banks. Investments in AI turn into business value.
According to Lloyds Banking Group Financial Institution Sentiment Survey59% of companies surveyed reported productivity gains from AI over the past 12 months, up from 32% in the 2024 survey.
Banks also reported growth in AI revenue in other areas. The survey found that 21% of respondents believe AI directly contributes to business growth, up from 8% in a survey a year ago.
Meanwhile, a third (33%) of respondents said AI improves customer experience (up from 14%). The same percentage said AI provides them with greater customer insight, up from 18% last year.
As a result of the improvements, half of the financial services companies surveyed said they plan to increase spending on AI over the next 12 months.
