BANKING & FINANCE AI & DATA LEADERSHIP

Triona O'Keeffe to Join NatWest Group as Chief Data and Analytics Officer

TM
Techmediaglobal
| 4 min read
Jan 2027
START DATE
5 Years
AS CIO AT LSEG
12.9M
ANNUAL CORA CHATS
2017
CORA LAUNCH YEAR

NatWest Group has named Triona O'Keeffe as its new Chief Data and Analytics Officer (CDAO), tapping her global expertise across data, AI and engineering to help the bank's teams unlock more value from its technology and better serve customers.

A New Leader for NatWest's Data Ambitions

Triona O'Keeffe will join NatWest Group in January 2027, taking on the CDAO role with a mandate to give the bank's engineers better access to data and AI capabilities.

She arrives after five years as Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Data and Analytics at the London Stock Exchange Group, and brings more than three years of prior experience as CIO for Shared Application Services at Deutsche Bank.

"I'm very much looking forward to being part of such a great and ambitious team"

— Triona O'Keeffe, Incoming CDAO, NatWest Group (currently CIO for Data and Analytics, London Stock Exchange Group)

Shaping the Future of AI in Banking

O'Keeffe's appointment reflects NatWest's broader commitment to shaping the future of banking through technology, data and AI, while maintaining strong customer relationships and trust.

Part of that approach involves scaling the use of generative and agentic AI tools for colleagues to support their workloads, including fraud prevention and complaints handling.

The Group is also looking to evolve its customer-facing AI virtual assistant, Cora, with more personalised support and finance management help as two priorities for the future. Since launching in 2017, Cora has grown from a standard text-based chatbot into a generative AI digital assistant. Looking forward, O'Keeffe's role will oversee Cora's move into agentic AI, a system currently handling more than 12.9 million annual retail conversations.

Ethical Use of AI and Data

Shaping AI in banking also comes with ethical considerations, according to NatWest. In June 2026, the Group launched an accreditation in AI and Data Ethics to support colleagues in the responsible use of AI, including e-learning modules on its AI Ethics Principles, a half-day session on real-world application, and practical guidance on ethical risks facing day-to-day AI use.

Dr Paul Dongha, Head of Responsible AI and AI Strategy at NatWest, says the accreditation builds on existing training to give colleagues practical tools to recognise risks, ask the right questions and make better decisions in their day-to-day roles.

Key Takeaways

  • →Triona O'Keeffe joins NatWest Group as CDAO in January 2027, bringing global data, AI and engineering expertise.
  • →She previously spent five years as CIO for Data and Analytics at the London Stock Exchange Group and over three years at Deutsche Bank.
  • →Her role will help scale generative and agentic AI tools for colleagues across fraud prevention and complaints handling.
  • →She will oversee the evolution of NatWest's chatbot Cora, which handles over 12.9 million annual retail conversations, into agentic AI.
  • →NatWest launched an AI and Data Ethics accreditation in June 2026 to support responsible AI use among colleagues.
  • →The appointment reflects a sector-wide trend of financial institutions pairing gen AI expansion with stronger governance and ethics programmes.
Tags: NatWest CDAO Banking Generative AI Cora Chatbot AI Ethics Data & Analytics Financial Services