Westpac Rolls Out Microsoft Copilot to Global Workforce

Westpac, one of Australia’s largest and most established banking groups, has begun rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot across its global workforce of 35,000 employees, contractors and service providers — marking one of the largest generative AI deployments in the financial services sector in the Asia-Pacific region.

The rollout follows a successful pilot in Australia involving 15,000 staff last year, where early use of Copilot demonstrated improvements in operational efficiency and information access. Westpac’s leadership sees the deployment of generative AI not just as a productivity tool but as a strategic enabler that will help employees work smarter, focus on higher-value tasks and provide enhanced customer support.

To ensure responsible and effective adoption, Westpac is equipping its teams with AI education — including masterclasses, support resources and “prompt-a-thons” — while also building custom AI agents via Copilot Studio for use cases like HR and IT support. A dedicated innovation sandbox on Microsoft Azure has been established to encourage experimentation and accelerate the development of new AI-driven solutions.

Key Highlights

• Global Copilot rollout: Microsoft 365 Copilot is being deployed to around 35,000 Westpac employees, contractors and service providers worldwide.
• Significant regional deployment: This represents one of the largest AI deployments in financial services in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Pilot success: Initial rollout in Australia with 15,000 users showed productivity and efficiency benefits.
• AI education: Westpac is running training, masterclasses and “prompt-a-thons” to encourage responsible use.
• Custom AI agents: Copilot Studio is being used to build tailored AI agents for functions like HR and IT.
• Innovation sandbox: A Microsoft Azure innovation environment enables rapid experimentation and new solutions.

Why Westpac’s Copilot Rollout Matters

Transforming Daily Workflows

Microsoft 365 Copilot integrates generative AI into familiar productivity tools such as Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams and PowerPoint. By doing so, employees can streamline tasks like drafting documents, summarising meetings, generating insights from data and automating repetitive workflows — ultimately saving time and enabling staff to concentrate on tasks requiring human judgement.

In Westpac’s context, early use cases include AI agents that quickly respond to common HR and IT queries, and tools that help summarise internal information or automate routine responses — reducing friction for staff across functions.

AI with Responsible Adoption

Westpac is emphasising responsible and skilled use of AI, pairing technology with education and governance. The bank’s approach includes structured training and support resources to ensure employees understand not just how to use AI, but when and why to use it appropriately — a critical factor in large-scale enterprise deployments of generative AI.

By blending technology with people skills and strong values, Westpac aims to ensure that AI enhances productivity without undermining employee roles or ethical standards.

Leading AI Adoption in Financial Services

The Westpac Copilot deployment is notable in the broader context of financial services embracing generative AI. Banks and financial institutions globally are increasingly turning to AI tools to automate routine tasks, enhance research and analytics, and drive digital transformation. While countries and institutions vary in pace, Westpac’s approach highlights how large complex organisations can introduce AI with both scale and governance.

By enabling generative AI across its workforce and creating an innovation ecosystem with Azure, the bank is positioning itself at the forefront of AI-driven work in banking — from internal productivity to customer-facing processes.

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