Many financial institutions are well along in their AI journeys in today's digital economy, utilizing consumer data and predictive analytics to provide better products and more insightful analysis.

We spoke to Sean O'Donnell, GVP and Chief Technology Officer at Publicis Sapient for FS International, on how financial institutions can stay up to date with the ever-increasing rate of change.

"For the past five to ten years, a lot of companies have been actively involved in this space, strategically investing in data infrastructure and technologies like AI innovation labs and predictive analytics engines," adds Sean.

"They are in a strong position in the changing landscape thanks to this strategic investment."

Keeping up with fintech innovation with Publicis Sapient

Financial services firms face difficulties in keeping up with the rate of innovation, despite their advantageous position, especially in the case of generative AI breakthroughs.

Sean points out, "This is especially true considering the significant levels of investment required." Fortunately, this endeavor is becoming more accessible thanks to an expanding range of tools and technology. Cloud service companies with strong tools that enables customers to take advantage of AI and advanced AI capabilities include Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services.

This makes it possible for financial services companies to deliver better services and products, improve client experiences, and easily incorporate AI into their current value chains.

"As financial institutions continue to adopt AI and machine learning technology to drive innovation and satisfy shifting client needs, the future looks positive for them.”

Making the most of AI's advantages

According to Sean, the main advantages of AI are its capacity to change what clients may achieve by automating complicated procedures into straightforward ones.

He says, "Gen AI simplifies customer journeys and improves customer engagement with financial services firms, such as banks, insurance companies, and wealth management firms."

The rise of intelligent chatbots, which offer more powerful and intuitive information access and more efficiently respond to frequently asked questions, is an example of this.

Moreover, AI makes it possible for a more customized consumer experience by shrewdly delivering pertinent facts at the appropriate time. It helps businesses streamline their support procedures, especially major banks that are saddled with antiquated technology and procedures.

Energizing the fight against fraud
The market's availability of new AI capabilities has coincided with an increase in fraudsters' capacity to utilize the technology for nefarious purposes. Finserv providers, however, are able to retaliate using the same technologies.

Sean explains further: "AI and machine learning (ML) technologies are being used more and more in the crucial field of fraud detection. Gen AI has changed the game in the last year by solving long-standing issues that have beset service companies.

In the past, the majority of fraud detection systems used static rules engines to decide how a bank should react to certain dangers. Although these rule-based systems work well, they can be difficult to manage and get complicated over time.

On the other hand, there are a number of benefits to using AI and generative AI for fraud detection. Through the use of massive real-time data sets, these systems build dynamic models to comprehend the current environment and anticipate potential risks. They may now respond quickly and pro-actively as a result.

"Generative AI continually adapts and evolves its understanding of fraud trends, making it good at spotting possible fraud alarms in real-time. The manual intervention and sluggish rule changes of traditional systems stand in striking contrast to this agile approach.

"As a result, businesses are now able to identify and shield their clients from fraudulent activity like never before."