The upcoming year is poised to mark a significant turning point for AI innovation in the financial sector, according to Zac Maufe, global head of regulated industries at Google Cloud.
Maufe identifies four key trends expected to reshape the adoption of Generative AI (GenAI) in banking by 2025. These include the implementation of intuitive search, intelligent agents, multimodal AI, and advanced fraud protection technologies.
He emphasizes that intuitive search will significantly reduce data friction for banks, enabling advanced data summarization and extraction, thereby streamlining workflows and enhancing productivity. “Financial institutions are drowning in data but struggling to extract its true value,” Maufe states. “Banks equipped with robust data platforms will have a substantial advantage, as they can aggregate data from multiple sources, ensure its quality, and make it easily accessible for scalable AI applications.”
Maufe foresees that AI agents and multimodal AI will become commonplace in banks, enhancing customer experiences and automating routine tasks such as form filling. “By assisting with tasks like organizing data for loan underwriting and quickly processing claims, these digital assistants will not only enhance efficiency but also allow employees to focus on more complex and strategic responsibilities, thereby adding value where human expertise is essential,” he adds.
Moreover, consumer-facing banking applications are expected to grow more sophisticated. Maufe notes, “One of the most powerful capabilities of multimodal AI is its ability to integrate information from various sources. This allows a banking app to utilize transaction histories, recognize images of receipts, and interpret voice commands to provide comprehensive and accurate responses to financial inquiries.”
As cybercriminals increasingly leverage GenAI to orchestrate complex fraud schemes, banks are also expected to adopt similar technologies for defense. “By analyzing unstructured data, uncovering intricate patterns, and automating threat detection, AI will serve as a formidable barrier against financial fraud and play a crucial role in identifying and preventing cyber-attacks,” says Maufe.