PBZ: Industrializing Generative AI Through a Banking Hackathon

The PBZ hackathon exemplified strategic collaboration and innovation in banking through the power of generative AI.

Overview

PBZ, in partnership with CROZ, effectively organized a hackathon to explore generative AI, bringing together employees across various sectors to foster innovation and collaborative growth. The initiative not only generated over 60 viable new ideas but also enhanced internal synergy and increased AI awareness, underpinning future-oriented solutions in the banking sector.

Challenge

Technological advancements are constant disruptions that reshape our world, presenting both challenges and opportunities as they permeate through society. Here’s how CROZ supported PBZ in their pursuit of pushing boundaries and embracing the capabilities of AI into its organization.

“CROZ has been our strategic partner for the last 15 years, and we have worked on innovative initiatives before. It was very helpful to have such a trusted partner in organizing the hackathon, raising awareness about the possibilities of generative AI, and developing the submitted ideas. With their expertise, knowledge, and dedication, they definitely increased the likelihood of the hackathon’s success and achieving the results we have today.”

-Draženko Kopljar, COO @ PBZ

PBZ is a leading Croatian bank that is committed to fostering financial stability, prosperity, and accessibility in Croatia. As a member of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, PBZ offers a wide range of products and services for individuals, businesses, and institutions. It also pioneers innovative digital banking solutions and is deeply involved in initiatives to promote financial literacy and education.

Solution

The banking industry is constantly evolving, and businesses need to find new ways to innovate and stay ahead of the competition while staying in touch with contemporary solutions. PBZ recognized the importance of embracing and integrating AI capabilities into its organization. However, like many organizations, PBZ faced challenges in doing so.

PBZ wanted to bring together a diverse group of employees from different sectors. This would allow them to share knowledge and experience on the spot, and to work together towards a goal of developing new and innovative solutions that could benefit the entire organization. By bringing together a wide range of employees, PBZ could break down silos and foster a more collaborative approach to innovation. This would help to ensure that AI was not just being used by IT experts, but by employees from all parts of the organization who could see the potential benefits of the technology.

PBZ addressed these challenges by partnering with CROZ, a strategic IT partner with expertise in AI. With a clear goal in mind and through a detailed internal analysis of our client, we recognized the needs of and helped PBZ to organize and deliver the”haCHATon”, a hackathon designed to generate new ideas for AI-powered solutions. The project brought together a diverse group of participants from across the organization, including employees from Retail, Corporate, Risk, and Customer Support. The hackathon was successful in generating over 60+ new ideas, many of which have the potential to be developed into real-world solutions. In addition, the project helped raise awareness of the possibilities that generative AI holds within PBZ and strengthened the synergy between their internal business and IT sectors.