By Lucius Pan (Strategy and Innovation Manager, Data Science & Innovation)
Are you working on something exciting in AI, data science, or machine learning? Whether you’re a researcher, practitioner, startup founder, or industry leader, we want you to be part of our 2025 Data Science and Engineering Conference (DSEC) — share your story, showcase your work, and help us shape the future of AI at NatWest Group.
NatWest Group’s DSEC 2024 stood out for me as a beacon of innovation, collaboration, and inspiration. Hosted by the Data Science and Innovation team within Data & Analytics at NatWest Group, DSEC brought together over 300 attendees across two days of keynotes, panels, workshops, and poster sessions — all designed to help us learn, connect, and inspire us to harness the potential of AI.
From the very first keynote, it was clear that DSEC 2024 was about real-world impact. Adam Grzywaczewski from Nvidia opened with a compelling vision of the future of AI, highlighting how generative models and edge computing are transforming industries. David Grunwald, our Head of Innovation and Partnerships, followed with insights into how NatWest Group is navigating the rapid wave of tech disruption, emphasising the importance of aligning AI innovation with customer needs.
One of the keynote sessions was David Bloch from AWS, who shared how generative AI is turbocharging culture change and data adoption across sectors. His analogy — comparing data to food — was a crowd favourite, reminding me that while everyone knows they should be data-driven, few truly are. His message was clear: data is the differentiator, and GenAI is the catalyst.
DSEC 2024 was packed with sessions that explored the frontiers of AI research and application. A highlight was Google DeepMind’s Senthooran Rajamanoharan, who took us deep into the mechanics of language models, helping us understand how Large Language Models (LLMs) “tick” and where their limitations lie.
The panel on AI ethics, featuring Alexandra Mousavizadeh (Evident), Ali Shah (Accenture), Professor Shannon Vallor (University of Edinburgh), and Dr Paul Dongha and Caroline Ellis (NatWest Group), sparked rich discussion on responsible AI governance and the societal implications of emerging technologies.
We also heard from OpenAI, Accenture, and start-ups like Serene, Ask Silver and Dash, showcasing how AI is being used to compress models, rethink financial services, and support vulnerable customers through intelligent transaction analysis.
DSEC 2024 wasn’t just about cutting-edge AI — it was about bringing people together to share, learn, and spark new ideas. This spirit of collaboration was championed by Graham Smith, Head of the Data Science & Innovation team, whose opening remarks each day reminded us why we do what we do: to become a vital and trusted partner to our customers.
We were also joined by Zachery Anderson, Chief Data & Analytics Officer at NatWest Group, whose keynote underscored the strategic importance of data and AI in driving customer-centric transformation. His vision for a data-empowered organisation resonated deeply with attendees and set the tone for the day’s conversations.
The poster sessions were a standout feature — buzzing with energy, curiosity, and creativity. With over 40 posters on display, the sessions showcased the breadth and depth of innovation happening across the bank. A few highlights included:
These projects are more than technical achievements — they’re real-world solutions aimed at helping us better serve its customers.
As we reflect on the success of DSEC 2024, we’re already looking ahead. The next DSEC will be even bigger, and we want you to be part of it.
Whether you’re a researcher, practitioner, start-up founder, or industry leader — if you’re working on something exciting in AI, data science, or machine learning, we want to hear from you.
If you’d like to be involved in DSEC 2025 or have questions about the event, reach out to me (Lucius Pan) on LinkedIn. And if you’re passionate about solving real-world problems with AI, have a look at the AI research happening across the bank and also check out our career opportunities -we’re hiring!
Learn more about our work with AI and data
<hr><p>NatWest Group’s Data Science and Engineering Conference 2024: Learning and connecting to harness… was originally published in NatWest Group AI & Engineering on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.</p>