How will artificial intelligence shape the future of banking?

Microsoft's 2023 Future of Finance Trends report found that financial teams and leaders are struggling to strike the right balance between strategic innovation and protecting the financial health of their organisations, with 88 per cent feeling overwhelmed by the amount of data they are handling. The report concludes that AI and automation are vital for growth, with 82 per cent of finance leaders believing that technology is necessary to support business goals by freeing up valuable time for finance teams. However, 89 per cent of organisations do not have integrated automation, analytics or AI, according to KPMG's 2021 The Future of Finance report, meaning that they are losing out on valuable benefits in terms of time and money. "The key to advancing business and staying on top of the problems we're currently facing is to be data-driven by building predictive and analytical capabilities that will deliver the right insights to make well-informed decisions," says Roni Karassik, director of product for Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services and industry AI. "AI applications provide three overarching benefits –transforming the customer experience, empowering employees and providing deeper insights." Firms are looking to use AI to do more with less by automating and processing data more effectively.