LHV Bank will be undertaking a proof of concept (PoC) with Gradient Labs to explore the use of agentic artificial intelligence to support retail customer service, with a focus on email-based communications.
The PoC will assess how agentic AI systems, which can plan, reason and take controlled actions across defined workflows, could assist customer support teams in handling customer enquiries more efficiently and consistently. The initiative will explore opportunities to improve response quality and turnaround times, with appropriate human oversight and alignment with LHV Bank’s governance, risk and regulatory requirements.
Gradient Labs is an AI support platform that specialises in safely navigating sensitive customer support operations for financial services. Through the collaboration, LHV Bank and Gradient Labs will test selected customer support use cases in a controlled environment, with a strong emphasis on explainability, auditability and clear accountability.
The initiative reflects LHV Bank’s continued focus on responsible innovation and its interest in applying emerging technologies to secure a better customer experience.
“Customer support is a critical touchpoint for retail banking, and the potential use of agentic AI in this area is an exciting opportunity to enhance our service offering,” said Kris Brewster, Interim CEO of LHV Bank. “This proof of concept allows us to explore how agentic AI could support our teams with email-based customer enquiries, while keeping human judgement and customer protection firmly in place.”
Dimitri Masin, CEO at Gradient Labs, added: “We’re pleased to collaborate with LHV Bank on this initiative. With retail banking, we know how important it is to deliver speed, accuracy, and empathy in one-on-one customer interactions. Being able to do it at scale, and safely within this highly regulated environment, is a huge leap forward for customer support in financial services.”
The proof of concept is exploratory in nature and does not involve fully automated decision-making for retail bank customers. Insights from the initiative will inform LHV Bank’s future approach to AI-enabled customer support and the development of internal frameworks for advanced AI systems.
