London – The global financial sector is witnessing a rapid acceleration in the adoption of artificial intelligence, with a new report from research firm Evident Insights revealing that more than half of the new use cases launched by banks this year leveraged generative AI capabilities. This surge in activity is being driven by the emergence of “agentic tools,” which are poised to revolutionise banking by moving beyond simple content creation to autonomously planning and executing complex, multi-step tasks with minimal human oversight.
GenAI deployments double in a year
According to the Evident AI Outcomes Report for Banking, the number of new AI use cases announced by financial institutions doubled in the first half of 2025 compared to the latter half of 2024. Of these, over 50% were focused on generative AI applications, a clear sign that banks are moving from experimentation to strategic deployment. While the majority of these applications are currently focused on internal users, such as AI assistants for employees, a clear shift is underway towards customer-facing solutions. Banks are using generative AI to enhance chatbots, power in-app avatars, and create personalised financial summaries, particularly within the retail banking sector.
The rise of agentic AI Agentic
AI represents the next frontier in this technological evolution. Unlike traditional AI that simply responds to prompts, agentic tools can reason, plan, and autonomously execute tasks to achieve a defined goal. For example, instead of a customer service bot only answering a question about a balance, an agentic AI could proactively monitor a customer’s account, identify an overspending trend, and autonomously suggest a budgeting tool or a different product to help. Capital One, J.P. Morgan, and BNY Mellon are among the leading firms that have already begun to detail their frameworks for these advanced workflows. The number of banking employees working on agentic AI has grown thirteen-fold year-on-year, signalling its importance to future operations.
Implications for finance
The deployment of agentic AI holds significant implications for the financial industry. On one hand, it promises substantial gains in operational efficiency and cost reduction by automating complex, high-volume tasks like fraud detection, regulatory compliance, and treasury management. On the other, it introduces new challenges related to governance, risk management, and security. Experts caution that while these tools offer immense potential, their autonomous nature requires robust human oversight and clear guardrails to prevent unintended consequences. For banks, the race is not only to adopt this technology but also to develop the secure and ethical frameworks needed to manage it effectively. Those who succeed will likely gain a significant competitive advantage in a rapidly changing market.
REFH – Newshub, 18 August 2025
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