Lloyds climbs global rankings for AI talent and leadership

Lloyds
Published on: 19 October 2026
1 min read
  • Lloyds ranks in the global top 10 for AI talent, leadership and transparency.
  • Lloyds’ overall score has risen by 10.2 points year on year.
  • Lloyds ranks joint first globally for talent development and Responsible AI leadership.

 

Lloyds Banking Group has maintained its 15th position globally in the October 2026 Evident AI Index, retaining its ranking for a second consecutive year and remaining the highest placed bank in the UK. 

The Group's overall score increased from 45.0 to 55.2, a 10.2-point improvement.
 

Skills, leadership and transparency underpin responsible AI adoption

The benchmark assesses 50 of the largest commercial banks across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific using 75 indicators across four pillars. Lloyds ranks in the global top 10 in three of them.

In the Talent pillar, which accounts for 45% of the total index weighting, the Group rose six places year-on-year to rank 10th globally.

The improvement follows continued investment in specialist talent and workforce-wide skills. Earlier this year, Lloyds announced plans for more than 1,000 agentic AI roles to support its AI build-out during the year alongside AI engineering apprenticeships.

The Group also gained seven places in the Leadership pillar to reach sixth globally, while maintaining sixth position globally for Transparency in responsible artificial intelligence deployment. 

Lloyds narrows gap to global top 10 while retaining UK position

Across the 50 institutions assessed in the 2026 index, the average score increased by 26%, or 9.6 points, from 36.5 to 46.1. Lloyds’ score increased by 10.2 points to 55.2.

The results reflect the capabilities needed as AI reshapes banking: clear leadership, investment in skills, and transparent, responsible deployment.

Lloyds expects next-generation AI to deliver more than £100 million in additional value during 2026, supported by the continued scaling of Envoy, its secure and governed platform for building, sharing and running AI agents across the organisation.

Its focus is on using AI to support colleagues and deliver practical value for customers, with appropriate oversight as adoption grows.

Our progress in talent and leadership reflects the investment we are making in people, skills and responsible deployment. AI delivers value when colleagues can use it effectively and it is supported by clear oversight. This benchmark provides an external measure of that progress and highlights where we have more to do as we apply AI to support colleagues and deliver practical value for customers.

Rohit Dhawan Director of AI and Advanced Analytics, Lloyds

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