A regional bank that treats AI as an operating-leverage programme: Copilot in every department, a Databricks data layer, a governed Automation Transformation Office and a board committee that oversees it.
How is OceanFirst using AI?
OceanFirst Financial Corp., the Toms River, New Jersey holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A., ranks 84th on the Federal Reserve's large commercial banks list with $23,173 million in bank assets at 30 June 2026, after closing its acquisition of Flushing Financial Corporation on 1 June 2026, and it discloses a governed AI programme. CIO Brian Schaeffer told American Banker in December 2025 that every application the bank owns now has an AI element; about 150 employees had been onboarded to Microsoft Copilot, which he said cut enhanced due diligence cases that took six hours or more to about five minutes and bond-portfolio checks from six to eight hours to 15 minutes, on top of a Databricks data layer. The bank's May and July 2026 investor decks list a kore.ai-based conversational AI platform (HAILEY), Copilot deployed across all departments, an approved AI governance framework and a centralised Automation Transformation Office; the Board's Information Technology Committee oversees AI initiatives; CEO Christopher Maher said on 24 April 2026 that the bank has invested in AI through existing vendor relationships, and CFO Pat Barrett said on 31 July 2026 that AI-driven automation should help operating leverage keep improving through 2027.
Lead bank
OceanFirst Bank N.A.
Assets (lead bank, Jun 30, 2026)
$23 billion
Charter
National bank (OCC primary federal regulator; FDIC deposit insurer); holding company supervised by the Federal Reserve
Headquarters
Toms River, NJ
Flagship platform
Automation Transformation Office, Copilot and the Databricks data layer
AI leadership
Christopher D. Maher · Brian Schaeffer · Patrick S. Barrett · Steven M. Scopellite
- Copilot is the workhorse: about 150 employees were onboarded by December 2025, anti-money-laundering investigators use it for enhanced due diligence on 100 to 200 cases a day (six hours or more per complex case cut to about five minutes) and employees use it with Moody's data to monitor bond portfolios (six to eight hours cut to 15 minutes); the May 2026 deck says Copilot is deployed across all departments.
- Data before models: the bank spent about a year and a half cleaning data line of business by line of business, now runs a Databricks layer that employees query with large language models through the model context protocol, and uses a tool called MagicMirror to filter sensitive data from outside AI models such as ChatGPT or Anthropic's.
- A governed programme: the Q2 2026 deck lists a centralised Automation Transformation Office governing AI investment with ROI-based prioritisation, an approved AI governance framework, enterprise-wide AI productivity tools and AI-assisted software development; the 2026 proxy statement says the Board's Information Technology Committee oversees AI initiatives and that directors received AI training.
- Customer service is already AI-assisted: the bank's call centre (45 human agents) uses Five9 Agent Assist for real-time transcription and guidance and AI call summaries stored in Salesforce, and launched a conversational chatbot in 2025 for routine chat and voice inquiries; the May 2026 deck dates the kore.ai HAILEY platform to 2024.
- AI is tied to the Flushing integration: after the 1 June 2026 close, the CFO said maturing AI-driven automation should keep improving operating leverage through 2027, and the CEO said in April that AI investment through existing vendors was already producing efficiencies in legacy processes.
- The roadmap is explicit: the decks sketch foundation work in 2023 to 2025 (data lakehouse, AI governance, model risk policy, a machine-learning loan-decisioning pilot, employee AI rollout), scale and integration in 2026 to 2027 (advanced credit underwriting, AI for fraud and BSA review, AI-driven KYC/AML, personalised next-best products) and embedded AI across business lines from 2028.
- Risk language is plain: the FY2025 10-K cites AI-enabled attacks and errors from AI use as reputational and cyber risks, and the Q2 2026 filings list operational risks of adopting artificial intelligence among forward-looking factors.
What is Automation Transformation Office, Copilot and the Databricks data layer?
OceanFirst's investor decks describe a stack built in phases: a Databricks data lake and warehouse, Microsoft Copilot (on OpenAI and Claude infrastructure) deployed across all departments, a kore.ai-based conversational AI platform called HAILEY, an approved AI governance framework and, per the July 2026 deck, a centralised Automation Transformation Office (ATO) that governs AI investment with ROI-based prioritisation. CIO Brian Schaeffer says a year and a half of data cleaning came first and that the aim is democratisation of data and processes.[6][7][1]
What has OceanFirst done on AI, and when?
- Jul 31, 2026
Q2 2026: Automation Transformation Office and AI governance disclosed[7][8][9]
The Q2 2026 earnings supplement says OceanFirst established an Automation Transformation Office to govern AI investment with ROI-based prioritisation, approved an AI governance framework, deployed conversational AI across its omni-channel platform and adopted AI-assisted software development; the CFO said maturing AI-driven automation should keep improving operating leverage through 2027.
- Jun 1, 2026
- May 1, 2026
Investor presentation sets out the AI and automation roadmap[6]
The May 2026 investor presentation lists the Databricks data platform, kore.ai (HAILEY) conversational AI deployed in 2024 and Microsoft Copilot deployed across all departments, with a three-phase automation roadmap from 2023 to 2028 and beyond.
- Apr 27, 2026
Proxy statement describes board oversight of AI[5]
The DEF 14A says the Information Technology Committee of the Company and the Bank oversees technology strategies and the cybersecurity programme, including AI initiatives, and lists AI among topics of director training.
- Apr 24, 2026
Q1 2026 call: CEO on AI across all departments[4]
CEO Christopher Maher said the bank restructured its core IT infrastructure to benefit from deploying AI across all departments, had invested in AI through existing vendor relationships and had started to see efficiency benefits in legacy bank processes.
- Mar 26, 2026
Call-centre AI profiled[3]
A BizTech Magazine article, republished by OceanFirst, described Five9 Agent Assist transcription and AI summaries in the bank's call centre and a conversational chatbot launched in 2025 to resolve routine inquiries before routing complex ones to human agents.
- Feb 27, 2026
FY2025 10-K cites AI in technology strategy and risk factors[2]
The annual report says the bank's technology investment, including a modern data model incorporating artificial intelligence into processing, lays a foundation for growth and efficiency, and cites AI-enhanced cyberattacks and AI errors as risks.
- Dec 11, 2025
CIO explains Copilot, Databricks and the data cleanup[1]
American Banker reported that OceanFirst had onboarded about 150 employees to Microsoft Copilot, was deploying a Databricks data layer and had cut AML enhanced due diligence and bond-portfolio analysis times sharply; the CIO said every application the bank owns now has an AI element.
Where does OceanFirst use AI today?
| System | What it does | Status | Use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot across departments[1][6][7] | About 150 employees were onboarded by December 2025; the May 2026 deck says Copilot (on OpenAI and Claude infrastructure) is deployed across all departments and the July deck says AI productivity tools were rolled out enterprise-wide. | In production | Generative & agentic AI |
| Copilot for AML enhanced due diligence[1] | Investigators copy transaction data and files from the Fiserv core and Verafin into Copilot to assess high-risk customers; of 100 to 200 EDD cases a day, complex-company cases that took six hours or more now take about five minutes. The CIO sees AI possibly ranking transactions by risk later. | In production | AML / KYC |
| Bond-portfolio monitoring with Copilot and Databricks[1] | Employees compare bond-portfolio changes against sources such as Moody's every five minutes instead of a six-to-eight-hour manual process; the Databricks-based version is still in beta. | Pilot | Generative & agentic AI |
| Databricks data layer queried through LLMs[1][6] | Employees ask questions about deposit and loan data in natural language through the model context protocol and receive a spreadsheet; the May 2026 deck lists a Databricks data lake and data warehouse. | Rolling out | Generative & agentic AI |
| MagicMirror filter for outside AI models[1] | The tool lets staff run models such as ChatGPT or Anthropic's while filtering out sensitive data, according to the CIO. | In production | Data & privacy |
| Conversational AI chatbot and HAILEY[3][6] | A conversational chatbot handles routine chat and voice inquiries and routes complex ones to human agents; BizTech dates its launch to 2025, while the May 2026 deck lists the kore.ai (HAILEY) conversational AI platform as deployed in 2024. | In production | Customer-facing chatbots |
| Five9 Agent Assist and AI call summaries[3] | Calls are transcribed in real time with recommended actions, and AI summaries are stored in customer records in Salesforce, so agents do not take manual notes. | In production | Generative & agentic AI |
| Machine-learning loan decisioning pilot[6] | The roadmap lists a loan-decisioning pilot (ML) in the 2023–2025 foundation phase and advanced credit underwriting in the 2026–2027 phase. | Pilot | Credit scoring & underwriting |
| AI for fraud and BSA review, AI-driven KYC/AML[6] | Listed in the 2026–2027 scale-and-integration phase of the automation roadmap alongside personalised next-best products. | Announced | Fraud detection |
| AI-assisted software development[7] | The Q2 2026 deck says the bank adopted AI-assisted software development to speed delivery and redirect engineering to higher-value work. | In production | AI-generated code & coding agents |
| Automation Transformation Office, AI governance framework and board oversight[7][6][5] | A centralised ATO governs AI investment with ROI-based prioritisation; an AI governance framework and a model risk management policy are in place per the roadmap; the Board's Information Technology Committee oversees AI initiatives and directors received AI training. | In production | AI governance (general) |
Use-case links open the tracker's rules-by-use-case matrix: which documents govern each system type.
What has OceanFirst disclosed in numbers?
| Metric | Value | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Bank assets (OceanFirst Bank N.A., Federal Reserve large commercial banks list) | $23,173 million; rank 84[10] | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Employees onboarded to Microsoft Copilot | About 150[1] | Dec 11, 2025 |
| AML enhanced due diligence cases per day / time per complex case with Copilot | 100 to 200 cases; from six hours or more to about five minutes[1] | Dec 11, 2025 |
| Bond-portfolio examination time | From six to eight hours to 15 minutes[1] | Dec 11, 2025 |
| Human call-centre agents | 45[3] | Mar 26, 2026 |
“But every application we own now has an AI element to it, so it's incumbent upon us to leverage that.”[1]
Brian Schaeffer · Chief Information Officer · Dec 11, 2025
“At the end of the day, what I really want is democratization of the data and the processes.”[1]
Brian Schaeffer · Chief Information Officer · Dec 11, 2025
“We’ve invested in AI through existing vendor relationships and have started to see the efficiency benefits in legacy bank processes while looking to further enhance our capabilities.”[4]
Christopher D. Maher · Chairman and Chief Executive Officer · Apr 24, 2026
“As we complete the integration of Flushing and mature our efforts to apply AI-driven automation, we expect that operating leverage will continue to improve throughout 2027.”[8]
Patrick S. Barrett · Chief Financial Officer · Jul 31, 2026
Who runs AI at OceanFirst?
Christopher D. Maher
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer[4]
Brian Schaeffer
Chief Information Officer (formerly the bank's Chief Information Security Officer)[1]
Patrick S. Barrett
Chief Financial Officer[8]
Steven M. Scopellite
Chair of the Board's Information Technology Committee, which oversees technology strategy, cybersecurity and AI initiatives[5]
Which regulators govern OceanFirst's AI?
| Authority | Why it matters here | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| OCC | OceanFirst Bank N.A. is a national bank supervised by the OCC, so the revised model risk guidance and third-party risk guidance apply to Copilot, Databricks, kore.ai and Five9 deployments. | OCC Bulletin 2026-13 OCC Bulletin 2023-17 |
| Federal Reserve | Supervisor of the holding company; the revised model risk guidance (SR 26-2) covers the AI governance framework and model risk management policy the bank describes. | SR 26-2 |
| FinCEN | Using Copilot in AML enhanced due diligence puts the interagency BSA/AML model risk statement and FinCEN's program rulemaking in scope for how investigators' AI-assisted work is validated. | 2021 BSA/AML Model Risk Management Statement |
| CFPB | As a bank above $10 billion in assets OceanFirst is examined by the CFPB; its conversational chatbot falls under the Bureau's chatbot findings. | CFPB Chatbots in Consumer Finance (issue spotlight, 2023) |
What does the public record suggest about OceanFirst's AI strategy?
Analysis by BankingNewsAI from the sources cited on this page. Observations, not advice.
01
Investigator productivity is the cleanest proof point
The enhanced due diligence numbers (six hours or more down to about five minutes) are the most concrete disclosed AI result, but they are one executive's account to a trade publication; a measure of case quality and exam findings would make the number more than a speed claim.
02
Disclosure is arriving through the investor deck, not the call
On the Q1 2026 call AI appears in one passage of the prepared remarks; the decks carry the platform names, the ATO and the roadmap. For a bank that has just absorbed Flushing, the open question is how much of the 2027 operating-leverage target is attributed to AI rather than integration savings.
03
Tool sprawl is being managed by governance, not by choosing one vendor
Copilot, Databricks, kore.ai, Five9 and MagicMirror coexist under a framework and an ATO; the control question for a national bank is whether each is inventoried and validated as a model or third-party service.
04
Roadmap dates give a testable calendar
The slides place advanced credit underwriting, AI for fraud and BSA review and AI-driven KYC/AML in 2026 to 2027; later decks can be checked against that list.
How does OceanFirst use AI?
OceanFirst uses Microsoft Copilot across departments (about 150 employees onboarded by December 2025), a Databricks data layer, a kore.ai-based conversational AI platform called HAILEY, Five9 Agent Assist in its call centre, and AI-assisted software development. Its CIO says Copilot cut complex AML enhanced due diligence cases from six hours or more to about five minutes.
Who oversees AI at OceanFirst?
CIO Brian Schaeffer runs the technology and data programme, the July 2026 earnings supplement describes an Automation Transformation Office that governs AI investment, and the Board's Information Technology Committee, chaired by Steven M. Scopellite, oversees AI initiatives according to the 2026 proxy statement.
Has OceanFirst talked about AI on earnings calls?
Yes. On the first-quarter 2026 call CEO Christopher Maher said the bank had restructured its core IT infrastructure to benefit from AI across all departments and had invested in AI through existing vendor relationships; on the second-quarter call CFO Pat Barrett said maturing AI-driven automation should keep improving operating leverage throughout 2027.
What does OceanFirst's 10-K say about AI?
The FY2025 10-K says the bank's investment in technology, including a modern data model incorporating artificial intelligence into processing, lays a foundation for growth and efficiency, and it names the proliferation of AI among cyber-attacker capabilities and errors from the use of AI among reputational risks.
- How OceanFirst uses AI to investigate crime, analyze bonds
- OceanFirst Financial Corp. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025
- Enhancing Customer Service with AI-Powered Cloud Contact Centers
- Earnings call transcript: OceanFirst Q1 2026 beats EPS forecasts, minor revenue miss
- OceanFirst Financial Corp. Definitive Proxy Statement (DEF 14A) for the 2026 annual meeting
- OceanFirst Financial Corp. Form 8-K Exhibit 99.1: Investor Presentation, May 2026
- OceanFirst Financial Corp. Form 8-K Exhibit 99.2: Q2 2026 Earnings Release Supplement
- OceanFirst Financial Corp. (OCFC) Q2 FY2026 earnings call transcript
- OceanFirst Financial Corp. Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2026
- Large Commercial Banks (data as of June 30, 2026)
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