Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Financial Services Industry Within Two Years, Survey Finds

A new survey released by the World Economic Forum and the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) finds nearly two-thirds (64%) of financial services leaders expect to be mass adopters of Artificial Intelligence in two years compared to just 16% doing so today. These firms plan to expand AI use to purposes beyond cost reduction, using AI for revenue generation, process automation, risk management, customer service and client acquisition. In Transforming Paradigms: Global AI in Financial Services Survey, over 150 senior financial services executives in both fintech and incumbent financial institutions responded to a range of questions on the impact AI will have on the industry, concluding that there will be a significant gap between firms that quickly implement AI and firms that lag behind. Currently, 60% of firms invest less than 10% of their R&D resources on AI despite evidence of accelerating returns. Pay offs have shown to be especially strong between investment levels of 10% and 30% as well as investment levels of 30% and 40%.