The new top trend at the performance conference! As bank CIOs increasingly step into the spotlight, how will the “Strongest Brain” lead the future

Ask AI · How can bank CIOs transform from behind-the-scenes technology stewards into strategic helm leaders?

When AI, computing power, and data become the banking industry’s new “means of production,” digital transformation has entered the “deep-water zone driven by technology, with strategic core” — and a group that used to work behind the scenes is now increasingly stepping into the spotlight: the bank Chief Information Officers (CIOs).

At the 2025 earnings release conference, CIOs took the stage alongside the chairperson and the president, facing the market head-on and becoming a new top focus at earnings calls.

The identity shift of CIOs — from a “housekeeper” for technology operations to a “helm leader” for digital-intelligence transformation — signals that technology has been upgraded from a “cost line item” in banks to a “growth engine.” Armed with practical experience such as AI full-scenario playbooks, large-model implementation achievements, and talent cultivation systems, they convey to the market their determination and roadmap for banking technology transformation.

CIOs come into the spotlight in a collective “breakout” with their tech power

At the 2025 banking earnings release conference, a group that had previously been rarely seen is now stepping onto the stage together with “tech buffs.” They are bank CIOs. As “technical stewards” who have worked behind the scenes for years, they are now moving in large numbers into the spotlight, conveying to the market the implementation progress of banking technology transformation and their future plans.

As AI technology moves from “perception and cognition” to “decision-making and execution,” banks’ AI applications have gone beyond the tool layer.

Bank of Communications vice president and CIO Qian Bin, the moment he opened his mouth, showed “an AI full-scenario playbook.” He emphasized that by applying AI, technical elements, intellectual property, and digital assets are converted into credit assets. Using algorithmic models to optimize product portfolios such as stocks, bonds, loans, leasing, and custody/agency, they provide customers with integrated comprehensive services across their entire lifecycle.

After going through the development phases of scale expansion and a speed-racing competition, “value first and cost controllable” has become the guiding direction for bank transformation. Postal Savings Bank vice president and CIO Niu Xinzhuang mentioned four directions — low capital, low cost, high efficiency, and high intelligence — outlining the bank’s transformation approach. On the path of “low cost,” they increase scenario enablement “with the digital-intelligence platform as the engine,” carry out lead-generation actions “with the fund list as the target,” “rely on the bill and document (ticket/letter) certificate ecosystem to deposit and accumulate low-cost funds,” and “take comprehensive risk control as the core” to reduce risk costs.

Leading joint-stock banks are also pushing large models from the laboratory to the front-line business. Since China Merchants Bank Chairman Miao Jianmin proposed building the industry’s first intelligent bank in 2023, China Merchants Bank has started to deploy large-model applications. “By the end of 2025, a cumulative 856 large-model application scenarios have been deployed,” said CIO Zhou Tianhong, who demonstrated the latest outcomes with a set of data. China Merchants Bank classifies large models according to the quantified standard of how much value they can deliver into three categories: high-value, medium-value, and low-value. He also previewed that in 2026, high-price-value work items will be fully rolled out.

When AI applications become standard, “talent support” is equally important. Minsheng Bank CIO Zhang Bin frankly said that starting from early 2024, the bank’s recruitment for technology-line staff has focused on three major areas: AI, security, and architecture. In 2025, it established a standardized training and certification system for AI engineers, and also formulated a coordination mechanism between business analysts and intelligent solution architects to support the shift from performance integration to performance co-creation.

With bank CIOs appearing frequently at earnings release conferences, they are sending three clear signals to the capital market. In the view of Bo Wenxi, vice chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, technology investment has been upgraded from a “cost item” to a “growth engine.” In the past, technology investment in bank financial reports was often classified as costs. But CIOs taking the stage suggests that banks want investors to reinterpret that AI, computing power, and data are not consumptive spending; rather, they are strategic assets that can generate “credit assets” and drive business monetization. Digital transformation has entered the “deep-water zone.” CIOs appearing together with the chairperson and president shows that technology strategy has risen to a “one-person engineering” project, transmitting to the market the bank’s determination and execution strength to advance comprehensive digital-intelligence transformation. Banks are building differentiated competitive strength in “technology narratives.” Through CIOs’ words, each bank depicts a unique technology blueprint to investors, using technological capabilities as a new pivot for valuation premium.

More internal promotion, and more cross-industry “sea selection” introducing talent

From the collective statements of bank CIOs, it is not hard to see that they are no longer simply managers of technical operations, but rather the formulators of technology strategy, promoters of business integration, and extractors of data value.

As the top executive responsible for bank information technology, the core duty of a CIO is to lead the establishment of an efficient, secure, and iterative information-technology system, fully taking charge of key responsibilities such as bank information technology planning, construction, operations, and security.

The CIO groups at state-owned large banks generally have extensive senior industry credentials and rich internal management experience, and most of them are core backbone staff who were appointed and cultivated within the bank over long periods. For example, Qian Bin originally came from the “ICBC system,” and held positions such as General Manager of the Information Technology Department of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Shanghai Branch, Deputy General Manager of the Information Technology Department of the Head Office, and Deputy General Manager of the Private Banking Department. Later, he became vice president and CIO of Bank of Communications.

Niu Xinzhuang previously served as General Manager of the Technology Development Department, General Manager of the Information Technology Department, and General Manager of Minsheng Technology Co., Ltd. In 2020, he joined Postal Savings Bank, serving as General Manager of the Fintech Innovation Department. These CIOs at state-owned large banks have worked in the banking system for many years; they both have deep familiarity with the operational logic of various bank businesses and the characteristics of customer needs, and also have profound understanding of the development history of bank information technology and the current foundations.

Moreover, setting up a CIO is not only exclusive to listed banks or medium-to-large banks. Compared with state-owned large banks, the selection and appointment model for CIOs at small and medium-sized banks is more flexible and diverse. It includes both internal promotion and open “sea selection” as well as bringing in talent across institutions. For instance, Yiyongfeng, the newly appointed CIO of Beijing Rural Commercial Bank, previously worked in the technology line at Huaxia Bank for many years. He served as Deputy General Manager of Huaxia Bank’s Information Technology Department and Director of the Big Data Service Center.

Shangrao Bank and others had previously also conducted open “sea selection” for the Head Office CIO role, with clear requirements for candidates, such as: having at least six years of experience in information technology work; needing strong insight into and successful deployment experience with technologies such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain; and having foresight into emerging information technologies as well as practical capability to drive the implementation of digital transformation strategies.

According to an incomplete count by Beijing Business Today, since 2025, about 30 banks including Rizhao Bank, Shangrao Bank, Langfang Bank, the Hebei Provincial Rural Credit Cooperatives, Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank, Xiamen International Bank, Longjiang Bank, and Liaoshen Bank have had CIO qualification approvals.

As Bo Wenxi said, the “internal promotion” model in state-owned large banks reflects a priority consideration for “people who understand banking.” Veteran leaders on the technology line deeply understand banking business logic and the regulatory environment, which helps avoid the “two-skin” disconnect between technology and business. Small and medium-sized banks, through internal promotion, external hiring, and open sea selection, can better address structural shortcomings in talent reserves. However, attention must be paid to the CIO’s voice power in strategic decision-making; meanwhile, the technology investment cycle is long and results are slow, creating an inherent tension with banks’ short-term performance assessments.

How to make CIOs truly “responsible, empowered, and able to deliver results”

In the future, competition in the banking industry is no longer confined to comparing scale, branch networks, and traditional businesses, but rather competition in the capability to implement technology strategies. From publicly available data in 2025, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of China have each exceeded 25 billion yuan in fintech spending. Joint-stock banks are also keeping up: China Merchants Bank’s information technology investment reached 129.01 billion yuan; at Everbright Bank, technology investment as a share of operating revenue is about 5%; Huaxia Bank and Industrial Bank allocate 4.29% and 3.58% of revenue to information technology, respectively. At a recent earnings release conference, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Chairman Zhang Weizhong also disclosed that over the past three years, the bank’s cumulative technology investment reached 21.7 billion yuan, with the bank-wide number of technology personnel remaining stable at around 6,000 people.

As banks’ technology transformation moves deeper — from upgrading underlying architectures and optimizing data governance, to building intelligent risk control, creating scenario-based financial innovation, and using AI to empower operations — every link depends on efficient technology coordination and execution. In this process, the CIO’s decision-making level, resource allocation ability, and execution efficiency will directly determine a bank’s long-term competitiveness.

How can CIOs truly achieve “responsibility, authority, and results”? According to analysts, on the one hand, it is necessary to clarify the boundary of the CIO’s responsibilities and powers within the bank’s overall strategy; on the other hand, it is necessary to establish a performance evaluation and incentive system that matches those responsibilities.

Dong Ximiao, chief economist at China Jianlian, pointed out that for all banks, especially small and medium-sized banks, to effectively bring the CIO role into play, more measures are still needed. Clarify responsibilities and empower from a high position. Commercial banks should not only establish the CIO role, but also ensure that the CIO has responsibilities, authority, and the ability to act. The CIO must be a member of the bank’s senior management team; the role may be held concurrently by a vice president, and the CIO can be included in the board to participate deeply in strategic decisions, rather than merely serving as a head of the technology line. At the same time, combine internal cultivation with external talent introduction. The CIO cannot fight alone; they should uphold a combination of “internal blood-making” and “external talent bringing-in” to strengthen the fintech workforce. On one side, encourage technology backbones to rotate into business frontlines and encourage business backbones to learn technology-thinking, to cultivate cross-functional talent. On the other side, through means such as “sea selection,” introduce and optimize talent externally.

Bo Wenxi suggested that in terms of organizational structure, it is recommended to set up a “Technology Strategy Committee” directly led by the chairperson, with the CIO as an executive director who has veto power. Separate the technology budget from traditional financial lines, and establish an independent “Strategic Technology Fund.” The CIO would have leading authority over where funds are directed, so as to avoid the squeezing effect of short-term performance pressure on long-term technology investment. In the performance evaluation mechanism, implement a “dual-track” evaluation: assess not only the CIO’s technology delivery efficiency, but also the effectiveness of how technology empowers the business. Introduce “technology investment return ratio” as a core KPI, so that the CIO is responsible for the commercial returns from technology investments.

On talent mechanisms, Bo Wenxi further pointed out that it is necessary to break the constraints that the bank’s traditional compensation system places on technology talent, and grant the CIO a certain percentage of compensation autonomy, used to recruit top algorithm engineers and architects. At the same time, establish a “dual-direction rotation” system between technology and business departments, and cultivate a pipeline of cross-functional talent who understand both technology and business, fundamentally addressing the talent bottleneck in the fusion of technology and business.

Beijing Business Today reporter Song Yitong