BENGALURU, March 13 (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.