(Hong Kong, 8 April 2026) – Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and Hang Seng Bank (Hang Seng) today announced the launch of the second cohort of the “Living Lab” programme, themed “Bank of the Future”, to advance the adoption of AI and support the digital transformation of Hong Kong’s financial services sector.
The programme offers technology ventures from HKSTP’s ecosystem live operating environments to test and refine solutions, while enabling Hang Seng to assess business potential from a technology perspective.
This cohort will focus on practical use cases across retail and commercial banking, leveraging AI to streamline frontline operations, improve service accessibility and unlock new business opportunities. It will recruit solutions in two key areas:
- Retail Banking: exploring an AI‑driven validation agent to verify and govern the outputs of a generative AI chatbot, improving response accuracy and consistency while strengthening customer experience and risk controls;
- Commercial Banking: developing a next-generation customer service voicebot for Business Banking Centres, leveraging multilingual speech recognition and natural language processing to deliver faster, more natural support for customer enquiries.
Applications for the second cohort will open from 14 April 2026. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to take part in pitches, and the results will be announced in the second half of the year.
Eric Or, Chief Ecosystem Development Officer of HKSTP, said: “Our partnership with Hang Seng aligns with the Budget Speech 2026 that outlines the support for I&T development and the application of AI in Hong Kong. This collaboration enables tech companies to test and refine their innovations in real operations, narrowing the gap between research and practice. The success of the first cohort demonstrates the synergetic potential of bridging corporate insights with the local I&T ecosystem. With the second cohort, we anticipate more AI-empowered solutions to accelerate the digitalisation of financial services in Hong Kong.”
Forrest Chai, Chief Information Officer of Hang Seng Bank, said: “We’re pleased to be collaborating with HKSTP again, as this programme is designed to accelerate forward-looking ideas and translate them into practical solutions that can reshape the next generation of banking experiences. Deploying AI at scale is no longer optional if we are serious about building the Bank of the Future. We are aiming to identify high-impact AI capabilities that can be tested, industrialised, and scaled across the bank. This partnership also reinforces our commitment to strengthening Hong Kong’s competitiveness in financial services and setting new benchmarks for digitalisation across the sector.”
Rannie Lee, Head of Retail Banking and Wealth of Hang Seng Bank, said: “As a leading local bank in Hong Kong, Hang Seng places customer experience at the heart of what we do. We’re pleased to collaborate with HKSTP and local technology partners to co-develop innovative AI solutions that seamlessly integrate retail banking and wealth services into customers’ daily lives.”
Regina Lee, Head of Commercial Banking of Hang Seng Bank, said: “Our clients need commercial banking services that keep pace with their businesses — reliable support, timely responses, and simpler processes. Through our collaboration with HKSTP, we will explore how AI can support customer service in a live Business Banking Centre environment. Our focus is on improving turnaround time, strengthening service consistency, and helping customers access banking services with greater ease.”
First introduced in June 2022, the “Living Lab” programme brings together Hang Seng’s market insights and operational expertise with HKSTP’s I&T ecosystem and a deep pool of technology talent. The first cohort concluded successfully in July 2024 and attracted participation from over 50 companies. The selected solution was an intelligent reception system, which was piloted at Hang Seng’s Tsim Sha Tsui branch.
