AI as a Business Strategy: VTB Turns Algorithms into Billions

Measurable Impact

At the ‘Digital Solutions’ IT forum in Moscow, Andrey Kostin, President and Chairman of VTB, announced that the bank estimates the impact of AI at about $167 million, with projections suggesting this figure could more than triple within the next two years.

AI technologies are already embedded in core business processes: credit scoring, anti‑fraud systems, automated real estate valuation, fraud detection, and customer service via AI assistants and chatbots. Machine learning and computer vision help accelerate decision‑making and customer service while reducing operational risks.

How the Value Is Calculated

AI is becoming a strategic business tool across the financial sector. Sberbank reported last year that AI brought approximately $5 billion in benefits to its ongoing processes, and a total of about $14.4 billion over four years.

While each bank still uses its own methodology for calculating AI ROI, a unified industry standard is likely on the horizon. The AI Alliance is developing common evaluation criteria, and T‑Bank has already adopted them.

“In the past, an independent real estate valuation in the lending process would typically take three days. Now it takes 30 seconds. Previously, a client manager had to manually search for and compile all necessary information to answer a customer’s request. Now, the response takes about seven seconds.”

Andrey Kostin

President and Chairman of VTB

“According to this methodology, our direct annual effect from integrating AI into operational processes reaches several tens of billions of rubles this year,” said Konstantin Markelov, Vice President and Director of Product and Technology at T‑Bank, in an interview with Interfax in October.

Algorithms at Work

The Bank of Russia surveyed 250 financial institutions and concluded that one in four banks uses AI, with the largest market players integrating it into a broad range of business processes.

VTB alone operates around 1,500 AI models across nearly every area of activity—from identifying optimal ATM locations to building personalized investment portfolios. Algorithms have proven highly effective in scoring, anti‑fraud measures, product personalization, promotion, marketing, and advertising.

For customers, AI means faster and simpler banking: rapid loan approvals, instant request processing, 24/7 support, and a noticeable reduction in errors and fraud risks. For the digital economy as a whole, this contributes to a more stable, flexible financial system that stimulates the IT sector by creating demand for domestic platforms, models, services, and specialists.

Systemic Transformation

Russian AI solutions refined in the domestic market are gaining export potential—especially in CIS countries, the Middle East, and Africa, where demand is rising for affordable and adaptable fintech platforms. Sergey Ryabov, Senior Managing Director and Director of AI Transformation at Sber, told RBC that the introduction of generative AI into the global banking market could drive around $340 billion in additional annual revenue.

The effectiveness of AI in banking is no longer measured by the number of deployed models, but by the real money saved—billions of dollars, indicating a systemic transformation of the digital economy.