During the final panel at EBAday 2024, Patricia Hines, head of banking and payments at Celent, engaged in a discussion about AI with a panel of industry experts: Sara Amara, head of currency and clearing Europe at HSBC; Gurumurthy Palani, head of transaction banking at Gulf International Bank; Christian Sarafidis, chief executive EMEA financial services at Microsoft; and Andy Schmidt, vice president of global industry lead – banking at CGI.
Hines opened the session by emphasizing that technology in financial services should not be adopted for its own sake but should deliver tangible improvements in operations and profitability, particularly through AI. To gauge the audience’s sentiments, she conducted a poll on the most important generative AI use cases for the coming year.
The results showed a diverse array of opinions: 31% believed that streamlining operations would be the primary application, 29% cited improved customer service, and 25% selected enhanced risk assessment and fraud management.
The panel discussed various AI applications they are currently implementing in their organizations. One panelist mentioned their goal of achieving “zero friction” for clients, highlighting advancements in predictive and personalized customer service. They shared that by integrating historical data with predictive analytics, they have successfully reduced false positives by 60% in their payment journeys and digital risk assessments.
Gurumurthy pointed out the potential of combining AI, automation, and checking processes to enhance operational efficiency. He described their success with data extraction and classification for sanctions screening, noting plans to expand AI applications into client-facing services in the near future.
Schmidt underscored the importance of developing responsible AI solutions. He discussed the bank’s need to engage clients in a more personalized manner, drawing parallels to personalized recommendations provided by Amazon. He emphasized that understanding clients’ life stages, savings, and mortgage rates could inform more tailored interactions.
The panel also addressed the speed of AI adoption in the industry. Sarafidis remarked on the swift rise of technologies like ChatGPT, which amassed 100 million users in just two months. He advised organizations to consider ready-made solutions rather than developing custom applications given that many AI use cases are still relatively new.
Lastly, the discussion touched upon the regulation of AI, particularly in light of upcoming EU legislation such as the EU AI Act. The panel agreed that while AI offers significant opportunities, it also comes with responsibilities, emphasizing the need for resilience and data protection to ensure the industry’s overall health.