Suite Talk: Sinead Taylor on leading through volatility, change and the AI revolution

Let's set the scene for the bigger picture, both for the bank and its clients. What are the major shifts your clients are paying attention to and seeking guidance about?

At the highest level, our clients are operating in an environment where economic resilience has replaced predictability. Despite repeated shocks in 2025, global growth held up better than expected but volatility increased materially, driven by geopolitics, policy uncertainty and market repricing.

In this environment, planning has to be nimble and iterative. What our clients most value is help making decisions in a world that feels structurally different to the one we’ve all been used to. 

Front of mind are inflation and interest rates. The momentum in consumer spending has come with a trade-off, and clients are very focused on what higher-for-longer rates mean for cash flow, funding structures and capital allocation. There’s a lot of thinking about where the pressure points are and how to stay flexible as capacity constraints start to bite.

This is where insights matter. With visibility over around 40% of Australian transactions, we can help clients interpret consumer spending patterns and understand how those shifts ripple through their businesses. This can give them both context and confidence, because a deep understanding of the environment can help leaders move forward with clarity.

Geopolitics remains a key theme. Clients are closely watching tensions between our key trading partners, whether it’s China, Europe or the US. Tariffs remain a key risk on the horizon, but the challenge is much broader than that. There’s a recognition that risk premiums are sticking around, and clients want guidance on how this will impact supply chains, pricing, trade relations and long-term allocation.

The world is also transitioning from AI expectations to AI impact. Globally and locally, we’re in an AI capex cycle, as data centres and energy infrastructure are rising quickly. Our economists recently said they are optimistic that AI will deliver a major boost to global productivity and potential growth of as much as 1% a year, but that productivity payoff depends on deep and widespread business transformation. Clients are seeking guidance on where to prioritise use cases, how to measure value, and how to manage risk, privacy and governance. That theme came up several times when I met with clients for AI roundtable discussions last year: the challenge isn’t “Should we invest?”, it’s “How do we invest responsibly and prove value?”.

“Globally and locally, we’re in an AI capex cycle, as data centres and energy infrastructure are rising quickly. Our economists recently said they are optimistic that AI will deliver a major boost to global productivity and potential growth of as much as 1% a year, but that productivity payoff depends on deep and widespread business transformation.”

What shifts are you seeing in the deal-making environment?

Our business is largely focused on the Australian bond market and deal momentum is quite high so far in 2026, which indicates that both issuers and investors have adapted well to what has been a period of frequent volatility spikes. Of course, issuers are still weighing the best windows to raise capital. It’s reasonable to expect things to quieten down for a few days when headlines hit markets but once the market digests the news, it’s back to business as usual. The second half of this year will be interesting in markets, as we get closer to the US mid-term elections; we might see a bit more caution enter the market. 

Can you describe a time in your career when you've taken a risk and what you learned from it?

I'm most proud of times I've taken risks for clients. Sometimes it's fighting for a transaction for a client who's doing well and can do better, or for a client in a tough position. These are huge risks – big transactions with significant exposures. If they go wrong, it's a big deal for both the bank and the client.

I still hear from one client whose deal we worked out, who told me, “I’ll never forget what you did for us”. That human connection – being there when a client needs support and saying we will be there for you, and then watching it succeed – that’s the best part of my job.

Over the course of your career, what leadership advice has really resonated with you?

The best advice actually came from one of our grads: getting good at anything takes commitment. You get out what you put in, with a multiple that increases over time. Even with talent or great assets, there’s an element of commitment and consistency that’s required to build mastery. People often talk about the 10,000-hour rule but while I wouldn’t be that prescriptive, I’ve always believed you have to invest the time and stay with it. As you get better, confidence grows and that’s what sparks real passion. I love execution – getting things done and done well makes me happy. That foundation is what eventually allows you to step back and help others succeed.

As you move up the ladder, your job becomes more about clearing the path for others, while still leaning into the details when necessary, and really balancing that involvement so that others can learn and thrive.

“As you move up the ladder, your job becomes more about clearing the path for others, while still leaning into the details when necessary, and really balancing that involvement so that others can learn and thrive.”

How would you describe your leadership style?

I think it’s horses for courses – you need to show up as the leader the situation calls for. There are times when you need to be directive; some teams need you to be a coach, while others respond well to more of a transformational approach.

I love transformational leadership. To me, it's not about overhauling an entire business, but rallying everyone around the idea that things can always be improved or reimagined. Small shifts that focus on customer experience can add up to something significant. It's about constantly seeking and implementing these incremental changes that collectively make a big difference.

When I ran operations, I used to say every small improvement matters because, at scale, it touches millions of clients. It's not always immediately obvious to everyone but once you have people connected to that vision and goal, amazing things happen.

Can you give an example of an incremental change that had a bigger impact than initially expected?

In operations, we manage the deceased estate process, which is incredibly sensitive and emotional. The process was a bit piece-meal, meaning people had to retell their story to multiple departments. This was heartbreaking for those who had just lost someone and, unsurprisingly, we fielded a lot of complaints.

One of my executive managers proposed a simple change – have one person navigate the bank for the client. It means the customer only needs to tell their story once and they have one point of contact – a name they know and a number to call where they can speak to someone who knows their case details. It was a simple idea that didn't require massive transformational change or cutting-edge technology, but it had a profound impact on our customers.

How are you leveraging AI in your own leadership?

I’m a very action-oriented person, so I need to consider if I'm putting too much pressure on certain people. This is where AI is valuable because it can objectively analyse your communication patterns. I’ll ask it something like: “Am I bombarding anyone with requests? Am I unintentionally putting pressure on certain people?”. Then, AI will map out who I contact most, who I might be overlooking and how balanced my interactions are. As a leader, that kind of self‑awareness tool is gold.

AI is also great when preparing for meetings. If I need to review six months of market data for trends or flow patterns, AI does in seconds what used to take an hour. Before meetings, I'll generate a complete synthesis of performance, identify anomalies or turn datasets into charts almost instantly. I’ve even had it graph multi‑year financial trends for me on the fly, which has fundamentally changed how I prepare for conversations.

And then there’s my daily market‑scanning agent. I built a personal AI agent that goes off each morning to scan the market, compile insights and summarise key points that require my attention. It’s an integral part of my morning routine.

These kinds of automations mean I’m free to focus on judgement, strategy and relationships – the parts of banking that are most valuable.

But we all know that change is messy, so I think it’s important to also visibly acknowledge the times when things didn’t work so well. I’ve talked openly about my first meeting-prep agent, which hallucinated quite badly. I went back to the drawing board and rebuilt it into something I now find invaluable. To me, sharing these missteps and how I’ve dealt with them is critical to leading my team through change because by showing your team that experimenting, iterating and improving is par for the course, you normalise a learning culture.

“To me, sharing these AI missteps and how I’ve dealt with them is critical to leading my team through change because by showing your team that experimenting, iterating and improving is par for the course, you normalise a learning culture.”

What inspires you most about the AI revolution?

How early we are, in the grand scheme of things. Even though the uptake across IB&M is impressive, I feel we’re only touching 5% of what’s possible at this stage. Every week I see someone doing something that makes me sit up straight – whether it’s using AI to collapse a 45-minute process into five minutes or automating insights – we're still in the discovery stage. Every new story proves the same points: when you give people powerful tools, they surprise you.

On a broader level, the AI wave is reshaping global industries faster than any trend since electricity or the internet. It’s sparking unprecedented infrastructure demand – Australia’s data centre capacity is running at 90% utilisation and forecast to more than double – and opening new frontiers in energy, productivity and customer experience.

What optimisation opportunities are you seeing and what areas should clients explore?

The biggest optimisation opportunity I’m seeing is removing manual effort from everyday, repeatable work. Across organisations, there are still too many processes built on copying, pasting, reconciling and re‑checking information. These are ideal candidates for AI. We’ve seen tasks drop from 45 minutes to five minutes at scale, improving both speed and accuracy. Clients should start by identifying high‑volume, low‑judgement activities where people are doing the same work over and over.

A second opportunity is faster decision making through better data synthesis. Many leaders are overwhelmed by information but constrained by the time it takes to turn data into insight. AI enables rapid summarisation, trend analysis and scenario testing, allowing teams to spend less time producing reports and more time making decisions.

Third, there’s significant value in fixing everyday customer friction. Onboarding, documentation, servicing and approvals matter far more to customer experience than big transactions. Redesigning these journeys using automation and AI delivers outsized gains in satisfaction and trust.

Fourth, AI can strengthen risk outcomes. Used well, it improves consistency, reduces human error and enhances auditability, while freeing specialists to focus on judgement.

Ultimately, optimisation is about releasing capacity. The question isn’t what you remove, but what your people can do when you give them back time.

What advice do you have for leaders beginning their AI journey?

Use it. Every day. Yourself.

Start with yourself: your real work and not some hypothetical task. Use it to summarise a paper, generate a strategy draft or a scenario plan. Let AI into the messy, operational parts of your job. Focus on curiosity over perfection and iterate.

Next, focus on removing friction. If something takes too long, is repeatable or drains your team’s energy, ask: “Could AI do this?”. Every major breakthrough we’ve seen internally began with someone questioning why a process was the way it was.

Finally, establish and maintain strong guardrails. People need to know what’s in scope and what’s out, in order to use data responsibly. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.