The customer experience in banking is about to get a lot more personal, as shown by an investment announced Wednesday in technology that will act as the "brain" behind AI financial services applications. Kasisto – a company that's behind a conversational AI platform about around a dozen financial institutions globally use – just completed a $17 million Series B funding round. It's yet another sign that customers' future interactions with their banks are more likely to be with non-humans. "It not only helps the bank become more informed of their end consumer, it serves the individual better, and in so doing reduces their cost structure and potentially generates additional revenue," said Patricia Kemp, co-founder and general partner of Oak HC/FT, the venture capital firm that led the funding round. "It's strategically important for banks to improve their mobile experiences and improve their online experiences."

As the impacts of artificial intelligence and machine learning creep their way into every corner of the financial industry, banking providers are finding new ways to transform their approach to creating, producing and distributing their marketing materials. Advanced data analytics can help you build an omniscient system that automatically knows what to send, to whom and when, and do so without raising any compliance red flags. It's easy to understand how some people are intimidated by subjects like machine learning and artificial intelligence. First, it involves math… a lot of it. And then of course there are the countless sci-fi thrillers like The Matrix, The Terminator and Ex Machina that have mythologized AI as a threat in disguise -- how tech can run amok.

As the impacts of artificial intelligence and machine learning creep their way into every corner of the financial industry, banking providers are finding new ways to transform their approach to creating, producing and distributing their marketing materials. Advanced data analytics can help you build an omniscient system that automatically knows what to send, to whom and when, and do so without raising any compliance red flags. It's easy to understand how some people are intimidated by subjects like machine learning and artificial intelligence. First, it involves math… a lot of it. And then of course there are the countless sci-fi thrillers like The Matrix, The Terminator and Ex Machina that have mythologized AI as a threat in disguise -- how tech can run amok.

Banks are already experimenting with robotic process automation in areas like their compliance functions. But robotics technology may soon find its way to nearly all aspects of running the bank. As banks become more comfortable with the relying on software robots to replicate the actions of a human interacting with machines to handle rote tasks, experts say they will be quick to deploy the technology companywide as a way to trim expenses and redirect employees to more crucial tasks. "I think we're going to see it move from a few narrow functions to across the enterprise," said Alan McIntyre, the industry managing director for banking at Accenture. "It's going to become an indispensable technology for banks, rather than an interesting experiment."