ServiceNow executive cites 77% AI request deflection at Standard Chartered
Paul Fipps said Standard Chartered deflected 77% of employee requests, while warning that governance can delay AI-agent deployment.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
2 min read
ServiceNow executive Paul Fipps said Standard Chartered achieved a 77% deflection rate for employee requests, according to his account of a conversation with the bank’s chief operating officer. The Standard Chartered AI deflection rate has not been independently documented in the available evidence, but it falls within the range Fipps described as “life-changing.”
Fipps, ServiceNow’s president of global customer operations, made the remarks at Fortune’s AIQ Summit, Fortune reported. He said a 25% to 30% deflection rate in comparable uses would be “game-changing,” while a rate of 75% to 80% would be “life-changing.”
What does Standard Chartered’s 77% deflection rate mean?
In Fipps’s framing, deflection refers to employee requests that AI systems handle without human involvement. The reported figure applies to employee requests, rather than customer requests, bank-wide automation, revenue or staffing levels.
Fipps said the most valuable AI uses often span several departments instead of remaining in a single function. He pointed to areas such as legal and technology requests as examples of work that can be addressed through an enterprise-wide approach.
Fipps says process changes matter alongside AI agents
Fipps argued that organizations get stronger results when they redesign their processes and then use AI within them. Automating current processes with autonomous agents may bring a productivity increase, he said, but he distinguished that from changing how work is organized.
He also said companies should decide how to use the time and resources AI frees up, including whether the technology improves business outcomes and supports growth. Those are Fipps’s views on how companies should deploy AI, rather than independently measured results at Standard Chartered.
Governance can hold back deployment in regulated industries
Fipps said governance and trust are necessary for moving AI projects into operation, particularly in regulated sectors. He recounted speaking with the chief technology officer of a large Indian bank that had built about 40 custom agents but had not released them because the executive did not believe people could reliably control the systems.
ServiceNow has separately named Standard Chartered an AI Pacesetter Award winner, according to a ServiceNow-hosted event page. That recognition confirms the vendor honored the bank for its AI approach; it does not independently verify the 77% employee-request figure.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.