Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an over-used phrase reflecting a genuine convergence of a number of technologies and methodologies. The Banking industry has invested heavily in technology for a long time, and as the industry shifts from being led by large financial institutions, to one that is increasingly driven by disruptive FinTech companies, innovative technology is high on the agenda across the board.
Currently most of the use cases for AI in banking are in mid-level roles, rather than customer facing or operational roles, but this will change over time as AI becomes more "customer facing, and ultimately more consumer orientated.
Autonomous agents, algorithms which essentially act on behalf of a human, are the most well publicised example of AI in use in Banks today. In the form of algorithmic trading, Banks are using AI to track market patterns and to quickly and reliably react to them. A recent report by Thomson Reuters estimates that algorithmic trading systems now handle 75 percent of the volume of global trades worldwide and this figure is predicted, by those in the industry, to grow steadily. Interestingly, banks didn't head down this road to save headcount, they did it to achieve better results.
At the moment humans are managing humans through set processes – but we are approaching a time where autonomous agents are able to replace this. By 2020 Piccadilly Group aims to replace mid-management level roles in some banking IT roles with autonomous agents. By using autonomous agents for human-to-human mid-level management roles, senior management is then able to focus on the more complex strategic problems.
