Banks expect to hand decisions to AI - even if they can't explain them
Key Highlights
- ➤76% of banks expect autonomous credit and risk decisions at scale within five years
- ➤Only 18% of banks have fully operational, embedded AI governance processes today
- ➤63% would accept black-box AI for better performance, returns or liquidity
- ➤92% report at least one large language model operates outside formal governance frameworks
- ➤Only 10% currently use AI for autonomous credit or risk decisions at scale
Expert Statements
Anselmo Marmonti, Vice President of Risk, Fraud and Compliance Solutions at SAS
“These risks are not theoretical. When AI systems get decisions wrong, there are real consequences for a bank's customers and its community, as well as for its financial performance and reputation.”
Anselmo Marmonti, Vice President of Risk, Fraud and Compliance Solutions at SAS
“Rapid AI adoption alone is not enough. Sustained leadership depends on focused business processes and strong governance combined with trustworthy AI at scale. Together these deliver the business outcomes, resilience, compliance and accountability that modern banking requires.”
Marilin Pikaro, Director of Innovation, Conduct and Consumers at the European Banking Authority
“Ambition should match its capacity”
Aurelio Maccario, Head of Group Risk Management at UniCredit
“Governance means that you have done your homework, that you have created the boundaries, that you have set the rules, and then within those things you are ready to run.”
Tyler Pichach, Global Head of Payments, AI Strategy and Go-to-Market at Microsoft
“While inefficient governance might drive some banks to look for workarounds and shortcuts, there is real peril here. The quick performance boost from a black-box AI model might seem appealing in the short-term, but its lack of visibility, repeatability and explainability spells trouble from a regulatory and risk perspective.”
Tyler Pichach, Global Head of Payments, AI Strategy and Go-to-Market at Microsoft
“As AI becomes more autonomous and takes on more consequential tasks, governance has to evolve with it. The opportunity is to put the right guardrails, monitoring and human oversight in place so banks can move faster with AI while maintaining the trust and accountability financial services demands.”
Nishant Taneja, Head of Credit Risk at Tangerine
“In fields such as retail credit portfolios, more than 90% are AI-based decisions with very little human-in-the-loop methods. When it comes to high-risk portfolios, we have intentionally kept the human in the loop, until we have more confidence in the technology.”
Banks expect to hand decisions to AI - even if they can't explain them PR Newswire
Global survey from FT Longitude and SAS finds 63% would trade transparency for better AI performance; 76% expect autonomous risk decisioning within 5 years but only 18% have adequate AI governance today
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