Generative AI: Leveling the playing field for smaller players in financial services
In a recent Salesforce webinar focusing on "Building Trust for AI in Financial Services," critical insights were shared that shed light on the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and its impact on the financial sector. The session explored the challenges and opportunities surrounding AI adoption and the pressing need to instill trust and security in this innovative technology.
The State of Trust in AI - Major Focus for Financial Services
The webinar began with a sobering statistic: a staggering 59% of consumers do not believe that AI is secure and safe. Addressing this skepticism is a paramount concern for the industry.
Key Focus Areas
The webinar emphasized several critical focus areas for AI in financial services:
Trust: The need for a "human in the loop" approach to ensure ethical and secure AI integration.
Relevance: Guarding against AI-driven hallucinations and ensuring AI remains pertinent to real-world scenarios.
Security: Leveraging robust security measures, often described as "Hyperforce," to protect AI systems.
Ecosystem: Developing AI systems that can support multiple models, accommodating the multifaceted requirements of financial services.
Choosing the Right LLM for Your Use Case :
A major highlight was the importance of the Einstein Trust Layer, which underlines the necessity for understanding how it works, and how it can be effectively integrated into financial operations.
Observations and Implications: The following key observations were discussed:
Senior developers report increased productivity through AI adoption.
Financial data sources are becoming too vast for human comprehension, increasing the value of a use case for AI-assisted data search using NLP (Natural Language Processing).
The financial services industry is still grappling with the implications of AI, creating a competitive shift that benefits smaller players.
The Safety Concern
One of the biggest concerns is the safety of AI, particularly from the consumer's perspective. Regulatory guidelines have yet to catch up with AI technology, and the responsibility for AI deployment is spreading beyond the CIO to the CEO and board of directors.
Trial & Error / Proof of Concept approach is encouraged to become familiar with AI models and its real-life applications.
Expertise Gap
A significant hurdle in AI adoption is the lack of expertise in the C-suite, with 70% of Fortune 500 executives feeling inadequately informed. There's a growing need for experts who can stay up-to-date with rapidly changing "best practices."
The Role of the “Prompt Engineer”
The webinar proposed the concept of a "Prompt Engineer" as a full-time position to maximize the value delivered by AI models. This role would be crucial in writing effective prompts for AI models.
The Challenge of “Explainability”
Explainability remains a challenge, especially when dealing with model outputs that leverage unstructured data in financial databases. Interpreting model outputs and ensuring safety and integrity are major areas of concern as a result.
Major Players: Rely Heavily on Experienced Partners
To navigate the complexities of AI in financial services, the Fortune 500 FI’s are looking towards their partnerships with experienced and trusted firms, such as KPMG, Accenture, and Deloitte, to help them navigate the quickly changing landscape.
This Salesforce webinar highlighted the growing importance of building trust in AI for financial services. As the industry evolves, addressing the trust, safety, and expertise gaps will be essential in harnessing the full potential of AI while remaining competitive in a very rapidly changing marketplace.
How well the smaller Financial Service providers are able to navigate the challenges that their much larger competition will have to wade through, while balancing the need to satisfy their regulatory guidelines, may provide them with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leapfrog and increase their stature.
Interesting times for sure. What are your thoughts?
Is this a major window of opportunity for the smaller players?
