BENGALURU (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) software engineers increased their productivity 10% to 20% by using a coding assistant tool developed by the bank, its global chief information officer Lori Beer said.

The gains present "a great opportunity" for the lender to assign its engineers to other projects, Beer told Reuters ahead of DevUp, an internal conference hosted by JPMorgan ( JPM ), bringing together its top engineers in India this year. 

The largest lender in the U.S. had a technology budget of $17 billion for 2024. Its tech workforce of 63,000 employees, with a third of them based in India, represents about 21% of its global headcount.

The efficiency gains from the coding assistant will also allow JPMorgan's ( JPM ) engineers to devote more time to high-value projects focusing on artificial intelligence and data, Beer said.

The bank already has about 450 potential cases for which it could use AI, and CEO Jamie Dimon expects those potential applications to surge to 1,000 by next year. The bank is focused on areas where it can use AI to make money for its businesses, Beer said.

"I wouldn't say success is if we get 1,000 done," she said. "Success is if we continue to articulate that it's not just an incremental shift with AI, but we're transforming and creating value," she said.

JPMorgan's ( JPM ) president Daniel Pinto previously said implementing AI could add about $1 billion to $1.5 billion in value for the bank.

In terms of hiring, "we've sort of passed our high growth time", Beer said.

"There's so much productivity and opportunity as we think about a world with AI. We've grown rapidly... You're going to see us continue to optimize the footprint we have," she said.

In 2022, Beer said the company planned to hire about 2,000 engineers worldwide.