Lloyds Banking Group Partners with University of Glasgow to Advance AI Research
Lloyds Banking Group and the University of Glasgow have embarked on a four-year research partnership aimed at exploring the transformative potential of artificial intelligence in software and data engineering. This collaboration seeks to harness the power of agentic AIs—advanced coding tools based on large language models—to enhance the daily workflows of engineers across extensive enterprise environments.
As the UK’s largest digital bank, Lloyds Banking Group serves approximately 28 million customers and is actively investing in the development of new digital software and services. The bank is also implementing comprehensive training and skill development programs for its workforce to ensure they are well-equipped for the future.
Quarterly Real-World Testing to Impact Engineering Workflows
To ensure rigorous empirical data collection, the partnership will adopt a structured testing methodology. Each quarter, software and data engineers based in Bristol, Manchester, and Hyderabad will collaborate directly with agentic AI tools on various tasks. These quarterly experiments will aim to meticulously measure the AI’s impact on product quality and delivery speed, fostering continuous improvement in engineering practices.
As the partnership evolves and the Group enhances its understanding of leveraging AI benefits, successful workflows will be systematically implemented across broader data teams. Eventually, these innovations will be rolled out organization-wide, transforming the way Lloyds approaches software and data engineering.
Connecting Academia with Industry Insights
This collaboration presents a unique opportunity to examine significant engineering transformations in a practical setting, thereby addressing a notable gap in current industry research. To facilitate this academic initiative, the partnership will fund three new positions at the University of Glasgow: a PhD candidate, a Master’s of Research student, and a post-doctoral research associate, all focused on engaging directly with Lloyds’ engineering teams.
Dr. Tim Storer and Dr. Peggy Gregory from the School of Computing Science will lead the university’s efforts. Dr. Storer highlighted the burgeoning field of agentic-driven software engineering, which has the potential to optimize the efficiency of human engineers by automating routine tasks. He noted, however, that there has been limited industry research on the effective integration of agentic AI into large-scale software engineering practices.
Promoting Responsible Scaling and Open-Source Knowledge
Dr. Shane Montague, head of research engineering at Lloyds Banking Group, will oversee the project’s operational aspects, supported by Professor Andrew McDonald, who leads enterprise data provisioning within the technology platform. Dr. Montague emphasized that this initiative aligns closely with the bank’s overarching corporate objectives.
The partnership aims to share its findings with the broader technology and financial sectors. Through regular research papers and best-practice documents, the partners intend to provide valuable resources that assist organizations in effectively integrating AI into their software and data development processes.