Expression of Interest - CommBank AI Labs Scholars, 6-month onsite AI internship

Expression of Interest - CommBank AI Labs Scholars, 6-month onsite AI internship

Who are we?

• CommBank AI Labs are a globally recognised applied AI research team, combining academic rigour with real-world impact

• CommBank is ranked #1 Asia Pacific bank for AI maturity by the 2026 Evident AI Index (#4 globally)
• Partnerships with global leaders including Anthropic, AWS, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI

• Publishers of research at top-tier conferences while building real-world AI products that improve our customer experience and ways of working.

You are

A PhD researcher from a leading institution, driven to take your work beyond theory by applying cutting-edge research to meaningful problems, publishing at top venues, and building a globally distinctive research profile.

You’re motivated by depth, rigour, and impact and excited by the opportunity to see your research translated into real-world systems used at scale.

Together we can

Take a research idea from concept to publication and see it evolve into real-world products and experiences that can impact millions of customers.

Bring your ambition and we’ll help you grow, belong and shape what’s next in applied AI research.

Do work that matters

At CommBank AI Labs, we focus on research that delivers both academic contribution and applied impact, spanning agentic systems, LLM evaluation, causal machine learning, and responsible AI.

This program is designed for researchers who want to:

• Produce high-quality, publishable work

• Work on complex, unstructured, real-world datasets

• Understand how research transitions into live products and customer experiences

Over six months in Sydney, you’ll work on a defined research problem — with a clear pathway to submission at a top-tier conference, and visibility into how your work could translate into production systems used at scale.

See yourself in our team

You’ll join a global network of AI scientists, decision scientists and engineers, working together to solve complex challenges through advanced analytics and machine learning.

You’ll be surrounded by people who are equally committed to research excellence, innovation, and real-world outcomes.

What makes this different

• A six-month onsite residency designed to enable meaningful research outcomes

• Access to large-scale, real-world datasets and problem spaces

• Opportunity to contribute to AI-driven products impacting millions of customers

• Highly competitive compensation and salary (AUD) aligned to global benchmarks

• Relocation support, including visa sponsorship and initial accommodation

Mentorship & research environment

You’ll be supported by a diverse set of experienced AI practitioners, researchers and decision scientists across multiple disciplines with an unmatched wealth of expertise from global banking and AI research. You will work within a team led by CommBank’s Chief AI Scientist, renowned AI researcher Professor Mary-Anne Williams.

This creates a faculty-style environment, where your work is shaped by multiple perspectives, strengthening both the quality and impact of your research.

What you’ll work on

We’re particularly interested in researchers working on:

• Agentic AI systems and multi-agent orchestration

• LLM evaluation, alignment, and AI safety

• Causal inference and counterfactual reasoning

• Responsible AI, fairness, and interpretability

• Applied AI for financial services (risk, fraud, decisioning)

We’re interested in hearing from people who:

• Are currently enrolled in a PhD or within 12 months post-submission

• Have a strong research track record in Machine Learning, AI, Statistics, Computer Science or related fields

• Have first-author publications or submissions at leading conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, AISTATS, EMNLP, IJCAI or similar)

• Are motivated to apply research to complex, real-world problems

• Can be based in Sydney for the duration of the program

After the program, you’ll leave with:

• A published or submitted paper affiliated with CommBank AI Labs

• Experience that bridges academic research and production-scale AI systems

• A globally recognised credential that strengthens your academic, research lab, or industry career pathways

How to express interest

Submit:

• Your CV

• Google Scholar profile

• A short statement (max 250 words) outlining the research problem you’d most want to work on

APPLY NOW to live your best life and do your best work with the world's #4 AI Banking leader(Evident AI Index 2025) and Australia's #1 Employer of Choice for growing careers(LinkedIn Top Companies 2026)

Advertising End Date: 19/12/2026

About Us

Whether you’re passionate about customer service, driven by data, or called by creativity, a career with us is for you.

Our people bring their diverse backgrounds and unique perspectives to build a respectful, inclusive and flexible workplace. One where we’re driven by our values, and supported to share ideas, initiatives, and energy. One where making a positive impact for customers, communities and each other is part of our every day.

Here, you’ll thrive. You’ll be supported when faced with challenges, and empowered to tackle new opportunities. We really love working here, and we think you will too.