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The major bank has announced a new group executive for digital, data, and artificial intelligence, who will also be accountable for UBank.
National Australia Bank (NAB) has appointed Peter (Pete) Steel as group executive, digital, data, & artificial intelligence (AI) – a new role accountable for the big four bank’s digital, data, and AI teams and initiatives.
Steel is currently the managing director for customer channels at Lloyds Banking Group in London, a position he has held for the past two years. In this position, he leads a division of approximately 16,000 people responsible for consumer sales and service, digital, artificial intelligence, personalisation, branches, call centres, and advisers.
He has extensive experience in banking and digital transformation and worked at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) for more than 16 years, including as executive general manager, digital and chief information officer of the retail and business bank.
In his new position – starting 5 January 2026 (subject to regulatory approvals and completing his employment at Lloyds) – Steel will lead the digital and data teams, as well as design, customer onboarding, and NAB’s digital bank, UBank. (However, the search for a new UBank CEO continues and will report to Steel from January 2026).
Andrew Irvine, NAB group CEO, has been in London this week and confirmed the new appointment (which reports to him).
Irvine said: “Digital, data and AI are critical enablers for the delivery of our strategic ambition of customer-centricity and now is the right time to have an executive solely accountable and focused on accelerating our progress in these areas.
“Pete’s deep experience in using digital and technology solutions to deliver for customers and driving commercial outcomes will be a valuable addition to my executive leadership team.”
Once Steel joins NAB, Les Matheson – who is currently NAB group chief operating officer and UBank chair – will continue to have responsibility for several of NAB’s key strategic priorities, including business-led technology modernisation, payments, customer experience, group marketing, and enterprise simplification.
The new appointment comes as NAB focuses more on its digital and proprietary channels.
Speaking in May, Irvine reasserted that its proprietary lending would be one of its “key priorities” for the bank, alongside business banking and deposits.
While NAB said growth in proprietary channels had lagged brokers in recent years, it added that there were “encouraging early signs” of a change, with a 25 per cent year-on-year increase in new proprietary mortgages (excluding NAB-owned UBank home lending) to $16.6 billion.
Indeed, the proportion of new lending written by the proprietary channel was up 14.1 per cent over the year (from 35.4 per cent to 40.4 per cent).
The bank also recently announced that it will be closing its Advantedge business and will be shutting it down in gradual phases over the next 12–18 months. Existing Advantedge customers will then undergo a transition to NAB-branded home loans throughout 2026.
[Related: NAB to close Advantedge business]
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