Using Artificial Intelligence to Make Sense of Mountains of Data
inancial institutions have come a long way when it comes to utilizing next-gen technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning throughout their operations. We may all remember a time of skepticism. Recently this change was reflected strongly in an informal NICE Actimize customer survey which revealed that almost 90 percent of financial institutions acknowledge that they are already on the “path to AI” in terms of integrating AI’s advanced analytics into their compliance platforms, with only 11 percent of respondents not currently considering AI In their strategic planning efforts.
It didn’t seem so long ago that some regulators were hesitant to adopt new AI technologies, but now that they have seen AI’s powerful ability to analyze large amounts of data and identify unusual patterns, they are largely embracing the advancements. Experiencing first-hand the efficiencies that AI-driven approaches bring to a multitude of functions, particularly with respect to newer regulations, they have settled into a more adoptive stance.
In the survey that included nearly 100 respondents from compliance and surveillance personnel within global banks, a strong 60 percent noted that behavioral monitoring and conduct risk may be the number one area of value, likely due to this year’s increase in remote work management. And with behavior and conduct key, 18 percent said that remote working for traders and regulated users was a chief concern, with a solid 20 percent of respondents checking the box that this was their biggest challenge.
Even in the work-at-home environment, regulatory compliance has not abated and regulators are making it imperative for banks to adopt better ways of monitoring ever-changing activities. Even with employees working from home, financial institutions must remain fully compliant.
Financial firms historically take a conservative approach to adopting new technology. However, given the rapid shift to unified communications solutions (Microsoft Teams, Zoom, WebEx, etc.) and mobile communications due to the current environment, the benefits of AI and machine learning become critical. There are multiple forces at play. First, if the financial institution simply banned these types of communication channels, employees would be challenged to do their jobs. Second, compliance could be signaling to bad actors that no one is watching. This will drive nefarious behavior into the shadows, and there are unfortunately bigger shadows to deal with when working remotely.
Finally, employees have already been pushing firms to adopt these new ways of communicating, and firms want to make their employees happy, especially if they are revenue-generating employees.
Regulators expect firms to be proactive and take reasonable steps when it comes to monitoring—no matter the location of the regulated employee.
