CommBank Centre for Foundational AI Research

This initiative was born from a CommBank investment in AI, the largest investment of any company in Australia. It aims to position South Australia as a leader in foundational AI research, developing cutting-edge machine learning techniques with real-world applications across industries such as finance and national security. CommBank will harness these innovations to enhance customer security and create more personalised banking experiences.  The five-year partnership will further enhance the research and education offerings of the University’s Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML). 

The Centre aims to keep Australia at the forefront of foundational machine learning and AI innovation, creating a competitive edge in harnessing AI technology. The partnership will foster foundational research into new machine learning methods and techniques and explore real-world applications in finance and other industries. For CommBank, this research could unlock further improvements in fraud detection to keep customers' money and data safe, while identifying new ways to create personalised and secure banking experiences.

Key objectives of the partnership

• Attracting top AI talent to Australia: Leading AI researchers will be recruited to the centre and Commbank through hybrid appointments, which will combine academic rigor with industry relevance. The researchers recruited will include: 

         AI Postdoc appointments: Early career AI researchers to work within the co-branded centre.

         AI Industry PhD: Industry PhD students to work within the co-branded Centre.

• Research and publications: Generating high-impact research publications and sharing findings that will contribute to the global body of knowledge in AI.

• Industry-academia collaboration: Facilitating knowledge transfer through internships, workshops, and seminars, promoting a symbiotic relationship between industry needs and academic research.

• Building AI capability in Australia: This centre aims to keep Commbank at the forefront of FML and AI innovation, ensuring a competitive edge through continuous innovation and allowing Commbank engineers to have a first mover advantage in their rapidly developing field. The collaboration is poised to not only bolster Australia’s capabilities in foundational machine learning (FML) and AI but also to deliver tangible benefits to CBA’s customers and stakeholders.

AIML Director Professor Simon Lucey; AIML Chief Scientist Professor Anton van den Hengel; and Postdoctoral Fellow Hemanth Saratchandran will play key roles in supporting the launch and sustainability of this initiative across research, recruitment, and industry engagement.