Banks and fintechs have widely embraced the first wave of artificial intelligence (AI). Most are working hard to ensure their products and services are discovered by chat assistants, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot. They are also using AI tools to boost back-office efficiency and streamline some customer-facing services.
It is a strong start for many, but it’s only the beginning. Tomorrow’s leaders will be those who master the second wave of AI — called agentic AI. The first wave, generative AI, helps customers research options to find providers and products that best suit their needs. At each stage, a customer whittles down results by asking further questions until they get to the best choice.
Agentic AI goes beyond research and discovery. It empowers AI agents to act on behalf of their human user from a single prompt. Agentic AI will prompt an agent to research all options, select the most suitable, and pre-fill the required forms so they are ready for a customer to submit.
The interaction we are trying to create here is AI working for you — moving from passive monitoring to proactive serviceMelissa Ann-Chan, chief marketing officer, Arta Finance
How financial services companies can prepare for agentic AI
The next wave of AI adoption will see a seismic change in customer relationships as AI agents are entrusted to interact with financial services companies on behalf of consumers. Technology is already in development, but it will require substantial advances on multiple fronts before it can be launched with success.
Infrastructure improvements are needed to ensure cloud-based AI agents can communicate seamlessly at speed to put them at the heart of the consumer relationship. A secure digital ID standard is also necessary to ensure agents are representing bona fide customers and they are talking to their equivalent from reputable businesses.
Managing privacy and security and controlling fraud is essential for building trust between consumers and businesses. This will be impacted by an evolving regulatory framework that is trying to balance the need to spur business innovation but also protect consumers.
All of these requirements share a common thread for the financial industry — partnership. It is unlikely any bank or fintech will be able to operate in isolation. To reap the benefits of the second wave of AI adoption, banks and fintechs must collaborate with technology, infrastructure, security, and privacy operators and all must work hand in hand with regulators.
How agentic AI will impact the economy in the future
The shift in how consumers and their AI agents interact with companies will bring three new developments that financial services leaders will need to embrace to become leaders.
The assistance economy: From looking to booking, we will see a shift to agent-orchestrated customer journeys. Even complex product inquiries will be handled between a person’s AI agent and the brand’s embedded AI agent.
Adaptive customer experience: Those will be delivered through financial services’ AI tools knowing each customer, and their AI agent, so well that a website or app offers information tailored to their individual tastes. Today, brands can market to segments of customer groupings. Soon, they will build their offering around a segment of one.
Agentic twins: This emerging paradigm is the culmination of where AI technology is ultimately headed. Instead of responding to a user’s requests, they will research and buy new products and services without being asked. This is likely to start with removing the need for consumers to stay on top of interest rates and utility bills and instead move them automatically to the best offer.
What financial services companies must do to lead in agentic AI
The winners in the unfolding race to leverage agentic AI will need to be bold and embrace experimentation as they innovate new products, services, and business strategies. They must build the necessary infrastructure and foster trust so they are ready to provide customers with innovative AI-powered solutions delivered at speed and scale.
Focusing efforts on solving a customer need, a so-called killer use case, is going to be key. So too is a financial services company understanding where its future strategy should lie — as a leader in owning the customer relationship, an enabler connecting agents together, or perhaps a provider of the data that ensures excellent customer experiences.
We are at a fundamental inflection point in computing, where digital experiences are becoming more and more seamless. To deliver true helpfulness at scale, being AI-first is no longer optional — it is the essential catalyst for the next era of innovationMark Rydqvist, managing director, EMEA Financial Services, Google Cloud
One thing is certain: Being on the back foot is not an option. It is not a time to be reactive, wondering what the impact of AI might be. Industry winners will eschew timid approaches and instead take leadership positions that reorientate their businesses around the seismic shift that is about to revolutionize the industry as agentic AI becomes an everyday reality.
Written in collaboration with Google and Innovate Finance.
