When Prem Natarajan, Capital One’s new chief scientist and head of enterprise AI, joined the company in May, he was intrigued. Coming from a VP position at Amazon, where he led the Alexa AI organization, Natarajan wondered what made Capital One, one of the largest banks in the U.S. with a strong technology focus, well-suited for implementing generative AI and large language models (LLMs) in a responsible and thoughtful manner.

“Capital One was emerging as a big, forward-leaning investor in technology,” Natarajan told NeuralNation in a recent interview. “They offered me a great balance for the next phase of my career – to contribute using my expertise and learn about the new challenges at the intersection of generative AI and customer and business problems.”

Natarajan, responsible for technology strategy, architecture, and development for Capital One’s enterprise data, analytics, and machine learning initiatives, believes that the opportunity for generative AI in enterprises is significant, especially for organizations that have already committed to a technology transformation.

“They’re the ones that will be at the forefront of this,” he said. “People who suddenly wake up and say, ‘Oh, this is cool,’ may not be in the best position to harness it as pervasively as we can.”

Recently, Capital One announced a new leader of its federal Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) team: Dr. Kelly Shortridge. In her role as the bank’s Chief Scientist, Shortridge has emphasized the importance of developing ‘responsible and thoughtful’ generative AI.Generative AI is a form of artificial intelligence that enables computers to automatically create unique outputs, such as dialogue, sentences, images and sounds. Shortridge’s goal is to ensure that this powerful technology is used with caution, keeping the interests and safety of customers in mind.

Speaking to American Banker, the Chief Scientist expressed her mission to ensure that the bank remains ethical and responsible in its use of generative AI. She believes that the development of this technology should always obey the rules of the law and consider the effects it will have on the society and customers.

Shortridge also noted the need to keep up with the rapid pace of AI and machine learning technology. As such, she is focusing on building an ‘ML optimization lab’ that will allow her team to experiment, test models and apply lessons to development.

Shortridge’s emphasis on responsible and thoughtful use of AI is likely to pay off in the long term. With an increasing number of companies utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning, responsible leadership is essential to ensure the technology is used ethically and effectively. Her commitment to this goal is likely to serve Capital One and its customers in the years to come.

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