Davos: Financial institutions are moving rapidly from artificial intelligence (AI) experimentation to broader use in their organisations, putting trust, governance, and human oversight at the centre of the industry's next phase of AI adoption, according to a new World Economic Forum report released today at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2026.
According to Emirates News Agency, the report, developed in collaboration with Accenture, is titled The AI Playbook for Financial Services. It is grounded in case studies and draws on 18 months of roundtables and interviews with more than 150 senior leaders from over 100 organisations. These roundtables took place in key financial hubs, including Hong Kong, London, New York, and Singapore.
As firms transition from pilot projects to full-scale implementation, success will depend on combining speed with security, redesigning how work is conducted, and maintaining human judgment at the core of operations. Drew Propson, Head of Technology and Innovation in Financial Services at the World Economic Forum, emphasized that the most successful organizations are those that focus on delivering immediate value through productivity gains, improved customer experiences, and operational efficiencies. At the same time, they are investing in data, governance, and technology foundations to scale AI securely and sustainably.
With increasingly accessible AI capabilities, firms will need to differentiate themselves through the quality of customer relationships, transparency, and confidence in how AI is used. David Parker, Global Industry Lead for Banking and Capital Markets at Accenture, noted that as AI agents begin to act autonomously on behalf of customers-sweeping deposits, executing transactions, and making financial decisions-the institutions that will succeed are those that customers trust most to act in their interests. Trust, he emphasized, is no longer a byproduct of good service but the product itself.
The report introduces a Framework for Transformational AI, identifying four essential actions for institutions to move from AI adoption to AI-driven transformation. These actions include defining vision and strategy with board-level accountability, building the data, technology, and governance systems necessary to use AI safely and at scale, balancing near-term improvements with longer-term transformation, and preparing the workforce, processes, and culture for new ways of working.