Agentic AI Revolutionizes Finance: Banking & Wealth Management Insights
The financial services industry is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by the emergence of agentic artificial intelligence. This advanced form of AI is not merely automating tasks but reimagining how institutions deliver seamless customer experiences, empower their frontline teams, and streamline complex, end-to-end processes. A recent panel discussion, moderated by Peter Berbee, SVP of Financial Services at Kore.ai, brought together industry leaders Corey Thomson, EVP and Head of Digital at Mashreq Bank, and Kellen McClain, Product Manager at Vanguard, to share their firsthand experiences and insights into this AI-driven evolution in banking and wealth management.
The session commenced with a compelling demonstration by Ale Fiallo, Director of Sales Engineering at Kore.ai, showcasing the company’s mortgage agentic application. This powerful platform orchestrates a network of specialized AI agents to automate and optimize the entire mortgage application journey. From initial identity verification and capturing asset and liability details to handling documentation and generating instant pre-approval letters, the system’s “supervisor agent” intelligently delegates tasks to purpose-built AI counterparts. This collaborative AI approach dramatically compresses what traditionally takes hours on the phone into a mere five-minute online process, highlighting the transformative potential for efficiency and customer convenience.
Mashreq Bank, a trailblazer in AI adoption, has made significant investments in AI-powered chatbots to scale its service capabilities across an expanding digital footprint. Corey Thomson revealed that their banking platform handles between 1.5 to 2 million customer conversations annually, achieving an impressive 95% intent recognition rate and an 85% containment rate, meaning a vast majority of queries are resolved without human intervention. Thomson emphasized that their chatbot transcends a simple transactional tool; it’s a context-aware platform delivering personalized service across mobile apps, chatbots, and voice channels. Internally, Mashreq is also exploring the use of large language models to assess and enhance engineering productivity and quality, extending AI’s reach beyond customer-facing roles. However, challenges persist, including navigating diverse regulatory frameworks across various markets and overcoming customer skepticism rooted in past, less sophisticated chatbot experiences. Thomson underscored the critical importance of building trust, asserting that an AI assistant must be comprehensive and reliable from its very first interaction, or customers will simply disengage.
Vanguard, a leading wealth management firm, has similarly embraced AI to optimize its contact centers. Kellen McClain detailed their focus on reducing call volumes and handle times through AI-driven call summarization and self-service bots. Early adoption has already resulted in thousands of summarized calls, freeing frontline staff to concentrate on more complex, higher-value client interactions. One Vanguard employee remarked on the immediate impact: “I didn’t realize I needed this until I had it – now I can’t imagine doing my job without it.” Looking ahead, Vanguard is concentrating on mastering complex intent detection and integrating generative AI to create more dynamic and conversational client experiences, all while adhering to the financial industry’s stringent governance standards.
Both leaders concurred that data privacy and regulatory compliance remain paramount challenges in deploying AI within financial services. Mashreq addresses this through a hybrid cloud approach meticulously tailored to regional regulations, while Vanguard prioritizes refining its governance frameworks to strike a balance between innovation and risk. Another significant hurdle is mindset—overcoming both internal and customer skepticism regarding AI’s capabilities and preferred communication channels. Thomson stressed the continuous need for rigorous testing and direct customer engagement to foster trust in the technology. McClain echoed this sentiment, urging the industry to challenge preconceived notions, such as the belief that older clients would shun chatbots, and emphasized that continuous testing and iteration are vital to gaining momentum and unlocking tangible value.
As the financial landscape evolves, panelists envision AI transcending siloed projects to become a unified platform capability, seamlessly integrating across every customer touchpoint. From mobile applications to direct interactions with relationship managers and voice channels, the expectation is for consistent, contextually aware service. Corey Thomson articulated this vision: “Our goal is to embed AI deeply across the organization — to lift productivity, personalize customer journeys, and unlock new value.” Kellen McClain added, “Scaling AI with confidence means balancing innovation with governance. Generative AI and agentic AI together will unlock new possibilities — and we’re ready to lead the way.” The future of financial services appears intrinsically linked to the intelligent, orchestrated power of AI.