Just 12 percent of attendees at The Network Forum said they are deploying artificial intelligence (AI) the most over other technologies, according to survey results.
The audience at the event were asking which technology is being deployed the most.
Findings from the survey suggested that some 14 percent are deploying machine learning the most, 11 percent were unsure what their organisations are deploying, while some 61 percent are deploying robotic process automation (RPA) the most.
Discussing the results, one panellist said that they were surprised that just 12 percent were deploying AI.
Ralph Achkar, managing director, State Street, commented: “RPA (Robotic Process Automation) doesn’t necessarily fix broken processes and it is not always intelligent, machine learning is about computers learning from the data, while cognitive computing is a form of AI exhibiting human behaviour."
Edwin De Pauw, head of data services and innovation, Euroclear, added: “When we use AI to optimise existing processes, we aim for a return on investment of maximum 12 months. If not, we prefer to focus on re-designing the end-to-end process.”
The moderator also asked panellists what would they consider to be specific areas where RPA can be used.
Achkar replied: “We, like other participants in this industry, have legacy systems today leading to silos of databases and processes requiring manual intervention; this is an area where we have leveraged RPA to bring all this information together.”
“There is a significant investment going into AI. We are working on components to accelerate additional AI cases, there is a large focus to obtain a unified data set and a having flexible architecture across the organisation. Beyond technology, we are also focusing on a second pillar, which is talent.”
The moderator asked: "How do we ensure AI remains fit for purpose over time?”
Commenting on how AI remains fit for purpose over time, one panellist said the industry needs to make sure that there is an environment for AI and we need to understand what it is and what it isn’t, and what its capabilities are.
The panellist added: “We [the industry] need to make sure that there is in-house talent. There needs to be governance around AI or it will only exaggerate problems that we already have. You always need to keep the client impact in mind.”
Agreeing on this, Achkar explained: “We need to keep some sort of control to ensure proper governance and watch out for situations where computers are managing computers.”
On the topic of talent, Achkar said: “The industry has enough talent but the question is how do we attract them to the financial industry and then how do you attract them to your organisation?”
“This is where culture becomes super important within organisations. You can find talent anywhere the trick is attracting them. And after you get them on board you need to think about how you will retain them.”
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