Write-up: Creating Real Business Value from AI Webinar
On Wednesday, the 10th of July, FinTech North’s community came together for our ‘Creating Real Business Value from AI’ webinar, hosted in partnership with GFT and Google Cloud.
The webinar saw brilliant engagement, with 75 viewers at one time and 88 viewers in total across the session. The audience were highly involved throughout the session, with 15 questions and over 80% responding to the interactive poll. Click here to watch the webinar on our YouTube channel.
Joe Roche opened the webinar by welcoming delegates and sharing an overview of FinTech North’s recent work and upcoming plans. He then welcomed Alastair Gill, Principal Data Scientist at GFT onto the virtual stage.
Alastair introduced himself, his role, and shared some background about GFT, before contextualising the purpose and aims of the webinar, referencing their ongoing work with
Google Cloud focussed around Generative AI (GenAI) and digital banking. He provided an overview on AI and its growing relevance in the financial services sector, addressing opportunities as well as challenges faced by users, including balancing the desire for efficiency with the burden of regulation.
He discussed the relevance of research-based work and projects, while also addressing the challenge presented by ‘endless use cases’ that may not be relevant or widely applicable. He addressed some main themes that emerged across the research in the field, including risk management and the need to enhance customer experience (CX) and engagement.
James Lowe, Partner Development Manager from Google was next to speak. James first made reference to their rich depth of experience in working at the intersection of FS and AI as part of their partnership with GFT, before continuing to expand on the current role of AI in the sector. He attributed the seemingly sudden ‘hype’ around AI to increasingly challenging market conditions, including the complex regulatory environment, the economy, heightened consumer expectations amidst digitalisation and competition with others in the space.
He referenced the evolving nature of consumer and industry dynamics because of the rise of digital banking, noting the closure of 74,000 bank branches globally as a result. He shared some insights about the trends banks are currently focussing on to address the shifting dynamic, including growth through personalisation and transforming distribution, streamlining and automating middle and back office operations and improving operational and financial risk management. He expanded, noting that banks are looking to get into opportunities through embedded finance and introduction of new features;
‘GenAI address this appetite and increase productivity.’
He spoke on Google’s experience in integrating AI into banking, and their aims to tackle the previously mentioned areas prioritised by banks, with solutions underpinned by ‘Vertex,’ their AI platform.
‘GenAI holds immense value and productivity gains for banking.’
Next to the virtual stage was Francisco (Paco) Morandeira Rivas, Client Solutions Director from GFT, who presented a demo of GFT’s Generative AI Intelligent Banking Assistant, which integrates Google’s Vertex AI. The banking assistant has complex conversational capabilities, and is able to provide information and personalised insights based on limited input provided by the user, with safeguards in place to ensure interactions are private, accurate and protected against attacks.
Joe then returned to the virtual stage, to launch an poll with questions focussing around the audience’s complexity of usage of AI in daily business operations, and value produced by this. While the results filtered in, he welcomed the panellists to the virtual stage. The panel was joined by:
- Inès Rigaud, Data and AI Innovation Analyst, HSBC
- Alastair Gill, Principal Data Scientist, GFT
- James Lowe, Partner Development Manager, Google
Inès first introduced herself, her role at HSBC and their work with AI and GenAI. She shared her perspective on the current state of AI in terms of business impact, noting that though, any industries are adopting GenAI, financial services face stricter regulations and must protect customer interests. This requires thorough and careful implementation, which takes time.
Alastair added that GenAI is still maturing. Its efficacy is uncertain, and adapting traditional AI methods and frameworks is necessary. Similarly, Inès advised:
‘Using what is already available is a good way to get started (in using AI for business operations.)’
She went on to highlight the value of data, especially for people at the start of their AI integration journeys,
‘It starts with data – see what’s available, look at the quality of your data, and see what you can access.’
James commented on excessive hype around AI without clear use cases. He stressed that organisations need to clarify their AI goals, starting with simple implementations before progressing to more complex ones, arguing that demonstrating value is essential.
Once the audience poll results came in, the panellists commented on evolving nature of AI usage and attitudes, noting that the uptake and value of AI in users had notably increased since their previous event focussed around the topic.
Despite increasing usage and vast value to be found in AI, Inès underscored the importance of understanding the capabilities and limitations of AI, setting realistic expectations, and emphasizing data’s critical role.
GenAI is not suited for generating novel, innovative ideas, which remain the domain of human creativity. While it can produce concepts, these are not original and the technology is not a one-stop solution for all problems. Training is vital, and companies should ensure their employees are well-versed in AI applications.
As the discussion came to a close, Joe encouraged panellists to share their thoughts and gaze into the future of AI. James predicted significant advancements within a year due to the rapid pace of AI evolution. Alastair expects developments in modularisation and framework architectures, while Inès foresees new models, applications, and success stories emerging, driven by ongoing innovation in GenAI.
Certainly an exciting topic in the world of FinTech and beyond, the discussion around AI and its vast potential has only just begun.
