Insights in AI Transformation – the future is here!

The North American wealth-management industry is undergoing significant changes, influenced in part by an evolving diverse customer segment, customer rules of engagement, ever-changing competitive dynamics, and technological advances such as AI.  As a result, the industry is expected to significantly change along the following lines across financial services. 

• Robotic Process Automation (RPA), the ability to automate standard processes and/or workflows is greatly enhanced by machine learning, advanced analytics, natural-language processing, and cognitive agents.  This data empowered approach is remaking the value chains across industries, producing greater efficiency, and improving user experience. Please see how RPA can have enormous potential in banking and capital markets: Automation for Financial Services (Post).

• The Consumer is Changing, women, millennials, and Gen Xers are increasingly controlling more assets.  How to address the specifics needs of these consumers is a current topic of discussion at various levels in financial services.  Their buying preferences have a profound impact on a consumption-based economy, and firms are looking for new ways and tools (such as AI) to help them better understand demographic differentiators.  Also, Customer expectations around engagement are rapidly mounting—for things like virtual engagement and omnichannel support FIs (especially banks) need a response to the changing landscape to sustain growth.

• Mobile Payments and their tools (Zelle, Venmo, ApplePay) are consistently increasing in functionality, security, and are creating a challenge for the traditional Banks as trust in their technology and experience has dwindled.  Recent reports have indicated that traditional institutions will need to step up to protect market share and prevent possible loss of revenue.   A good example is Apple’s recent launch of a credit card venture with Goldman Sachs.  Given clear opportunities, Banks for example look to tailor offerings to appeal to particular sectors, to take advantage of this digital pace often set by industries outside of financial services.

• Life Events – How to deploy AI for predictive analytics to help Wealth Managers recommend better investment packages and products to their customers.  Investments that take into consideration a customer’s specific life stages and individual concerns will ultimately lead to Personalized Asset Management.  Financial Institutions (FIs) are currently seeing a shift in Customer needs that are moving away from risk-based portfolio construction to outcome-based planning across several dimensions (e.g., investments, banking, health, protection, taxes, and estate), and the right levels of intel about a customer, their spouse, and/or their children empowered by AI/ML and Analytics for FIs is a necessity.

• Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI): critically important for card issuers and payments providers and, deep learning to address next-gen fraud monitoring and Anti Money Laundering (AML).  Deep Learning combined with personalization can help firms for targeted marketing of products for customers (Netflix does this well). 

We believe that AI technologies will increasingly play a central role in creating value for FIs and their customers, but they need to reinvent themselves as technology-focused institutions, to deliver products and personalized services to customers and the marketplace in near real time.