2025
Enterprise Innovators
H2O.ai AI 100
As Global Head of AI Enablement, Standard Chartered.
David R. Hardoon
About Dr David R. Hardoon
More than 23 years in data and AI, across research, regulation, banking, a diversified conglomerate and consulting. He created FEAT, established Veritas and the MAS Data Analytics Group as its first Chief Data Officer, and is the author of SAFE and The AI Failure Handbook.
David is Managing Director and Head of Advanced AI, South-East Asia at Accenture. He is Senior Advisor to the Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE). He is also an Ambassador for Global Women in AI, a member of the Board of Advisors to Connected Women, and a Data Analytics Advisory Board member at SMU School of Accountancy.
Previously, he was the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s first Chief Data Officer and Head of the Data Analytics Group, which he established, and then Special Advisor (Artificial Intelligence) from July 2019. In those roles he led the AI strategy for MAS and for Singapore’s financial sector, and work on open cross-border data flows. He pioneered the regulator and central-bank adoption of data science. He created the Fairness, Ethics, Accountability and Transparency (FEAT) principles, issued in 2018, and established the MAS-backed Veritas consortium. He is the author of SAFE, the Stability-Assured Framework for Entities.
Earlier roles
He was Global Head of AI Enablement at Standard Chartered from April 2025 to May 2026. Earlier he held executive data and AI roles at the Aboitiz Group, a Philippines-based conglomerate, including Aboitiz Data Innovation and UnionBank.
He was also Senior Advisor (Artificial Intelligence) to Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, Senior Advisor (Data Science) to the Central Provident Fund Board, and independent non-executive director at Auto & General Services — South-East Asia.
Research
He holds a PhD in computer science, in machine learning, from the University of Southampton, for the thesis Semantic models for machine learning (2006), and a first-class honours B.Sc. in computer science and artificial intelligence from Royal Holloway, University of London. UCL Computer Science lists him as an Honorary Senior Research Associate. Out in the field, he is more likely to call himself a data artist than a pure data scientist.
The handbook is The AI Failure Handbook (2026, Bonufied). Research and code are on Research.
Recognition
2022
CDO of the Year, ASEAN edition
CDOTrends Reader’s Choice Awards
As Chief Data & AI Officer, UnionBank of the Philippines, and Chief Data and Innovation Officer, Aboitiz Group.
2026
Vision Awardee
CDO Vision Singapore 2026
Listed among Singapore’s Vision Awardees by AIM Media House.
2023–25
Best paper, then finalist
INFORMS awards for the fintech lending paper
Winner of the 2023 MSOM iFORM SIG Best Paper Award, and finalist for the 2025 MSOM Society Award for Responsible Research in Operations Management. Both name Antidiscrimination Laws, Artificial Intelligence, and Gender Bias: A Case Study in Nonmortgage Fintech Lending.
2023
Award winner
CIO100 ASEAN
As Group Chief Data and AI Officer, Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank).
2020
No. 57
Corinium Global Top 100 Innovators in Data & Analytics
As Senior Advisor for Data and AI, UnionBank of the Philippines.
2004
Best conference paper
ECML 2004 Best Conference Paper
Best conference paper for Using String Kernels to Identify Famous Performers from their Playing Style.
2026
CFTE
AI Chief of Staff programme, Inaugural Singapore Cohort
A token of appreciation for contributing to the programme.
Team and project recognition
2022–23 · Excellent
IRCAI Global Top 100
The gender-bias project, How Data Science and AI can reduce gender bias and concurrently increase profitability, is listed among the Excellent projects. IRCAI is under the auspices of UNESCO.
2023 · Digital Innovation
ASEAN Business Awards
Digital Transformation – Digital Innovation, won by Aboitiz Data Innovation while he was CEO.