Chatbots have been around for decades, but they've recently garnered more attention as they become better and used even more. When Facebook opened up their Messenger API in 2016, it led to hundreds of thousands of bots over the next two years. Early chatbots were (and many still are) quite generic and impersonal. Yet the option exists to create a relationship between the chatbot and the user, one that provides individualised, personal experiences. Personal chatbots require certain elements to make them useful.

Managing IT operations entails many challenges that must be met for a business to succeed. One of the most important yet often neglected is meeting all regulatory requirements from government agencies. Compliance with various industry standards like certifications, reputations, etc. adds to the businesses' plate. Using managed IT operations allows a company to offload the responsibility of these tasks, so the technical staff can focus on tasks directly related to business growth. This will not only help your IT staff avoid audits and other time-consuming activities but will also give your legal department considerable relief.

Recent years have witnessed tremendous developments in the financial sector. Financial technology or FinTech, has been playing a critical role in providing next-level customer service to users via the usage of AI-powered Chatbots. Intended to assist customers with their requests in the most dynamic way possible, Chatbots today, also acts as a guiding channel that can help businesses better understand the needs of their customers. According to a Juniper Study, the usage of chatbots will end up saving banks up to $7.3 billion worldwide by 2023, which represents a time saving of 862 million hours, or almost half a million years of work. Some of the helpful applications include automated and personalised customer support, 24/7 access, ease of usage, cost savings, data collection information, audience segmentation, feedback collection, new account generation, and many more.

Artificial intelligence plays an important role in the digitalization of many banks, but it could turn into a regulatory minefield in the coming years. Preparations are underway in the European Union for regulations on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). While the process is still in limbo, the thrust of the planned rules provides clues as to what companies need to prepare for. Swiss AI and the analytics consultancy «Unit8» published a white paper outlining the areas of concern arising from such regulation. Companies would do well to prepare for the new rules and already implement them as a preventive measure, it recommends, even though Switzerland is not part of the EU.

The Commission proposes a risk–based approach based on the level of risk presented by the AI system, with different levels of risk attracting corresponding compliance requirements. The risk categories include (i) unacceptable risk (these AI systems are prohibited); (ii) high-risk; (iii) limited risk; and (iv) minimal risk.