FinTech Through Gen AI Lens

How FinTech is Evolving - Manual, Online, Apps, Automation, and Autonomous

The financial world is changing fast; however, banks, especially in Wealth Management and Private Banking, are somewhat confused because of the different levels of understanding each layer has in the organisation: Should they use Generative AI? Machine Learning? Or the new buzzword called Agentic AI?

Let us break it down in simple terms, like upgrading from a bicycle to a self-driving car.

The Digital Evolution of Banking: From Back-Office to Autonomous

Imagine a Private Bank’s journey in phases:

Back-Office (Manual Work)
 - Advisors manually track client portfolios in spreadsheets.
 - Slow, error-prone, and limited personalization.

Online (Digital Access)
 - Clients check portfolios on a website.
 - Faster, but still reactive—no smart recommendations.

Mobile App (Automation Begins)
 - Push notifications on market changes.
 - Basic Machine Learning (ML) suggests simple adjustments ("Your bond allocation is low").

Smart Automation (AI Steps In)
 - AI analyzes trends, predicts risks, and auto-rebalances portfolios.
   Example: If a client’s stock is crashing, AI suggests selling before they even ask.

Autonomous (Agentic AI Takes Over)
 - AI doesn’t just advise, it acts like a personal financial agent.
   Example: You just have to say, "I want to retire in 10 years with $5M."

The AI negotiates with brokers, adjusts investments in real-time, and even talks to tax advisors, all without human intervention.

Why Banks Are Confused?

• Generative AI (Chatbots, Reports) - Good for talking (e.g., "Explain my portfolio performance in simple words").
• Agentic AI (Self-Deciding Agents) - Good for doing (e.g., "Sell my Tesla stocks before earnings if volatility exceeds X%").

Banks are heavily regulated and tend to adopt slow, controlled automation rather than independent AI that thinks and acts on its own. That’s concerning, but unavoidable.

The Future: AI as Your Private Banker
Imagine:

You wake up, and your AI agent says:
 - "I moved 10% of your funds to shaky gold markets. Also, I saved $20K in taxes by harvesting losses. Want details?"

 - It learns your habits ("You panic-sell during crashes, so I’ll auto-block impulsive trades.")

 - This is Agentic AI, a financial partner.

Banks that embrace this will lead. Those stuck debating "AI vs. Automation" will fall behind.

"The best financial advisor won’t be human, it’ll be an AI that knows you better than you know yourself, and Human-in-loop brings trust understanding BIASes, so it has to be there."