The new survey data, which canvassed the views of European financial services executives at over 100 firms representing an aggregate market cap of almost €880 billion, finds that only 31% of firms across Europe believe they are on track with overall AI integration. Just 11% of executives say their firm is prepared for incoming AI regulation, and despite 78% acknowledging their workforce has only some, limited or no experience of the newest GenAI-related technologies, only a quarter of firms have established new training and upskilling programmes, with 60% still in the planning phase.
Răzvan Pîrnac, Partner, Financial Services Risk Management, EY Romania: "The banking sector in Romania is making significant progress in digitalization, adopting AI-based solutions to optimize internal processes, transaction security, and customer interaction. However, challenges remain notable, especially regarding compliance with the EU AI Regulation (AI Act), which came into force in 2024, imposing strict requirements for transparency and security, as well as ensuring the necessary skills among employees. Although there are initiatives such as the National AI Strategy 2024-2027, which aims to adopt emerging technologies in the financial sector, the lack of specific training programs for GenAI and the global competition for talent may limit the pace of adoption of these technologies. To fully leverage the potential of AI, banks in Romania need to prioritize investments in workforce skill development, collaborate with authorities for regulatory alignment, and focus on integrating scalable and sustainable solutions."
AI could impact up to a third of Europe's finance roles – especially at entry-level
The majority (66%) of executives surveyed believe that over the next year up to a quarter (25%) of current European financial services roles could be impacted by ongoing AI integration, and 93% of executives say up to 10% of roles could become redundant. Despite this, only a quarter (25%) report their firm has an established training programme in place, 43% say plans are still in their infancy, and 29% confirm they currently have no training programmes in place – 12% of whom say they have no plans to develop one.
Entry level positions are expected to be particularly impacted, with 59% of leaders believing AI technologies will have a significant or even transformative impact on the roles and tasks undertaken by those joining the workforce. Despite this, only 24% of executives are planning to restructure entry-level roles and responsibilities, and just 25% plan to integrate AI training within their graduate programme (down from 35% in 2023). Thirty-five per cent say they have not taken any action to offset any potential knock-on impacts of AI adoption to the junior workforce (up from 28% in 2023).
Business areas demanding AI expertise and attributes leaders look for in new hires
For the second year running, the business area that has the highest demand for AI talent is data science and innovation (the top choice for 54% of respondents). The second and third ranking areas have switched places this year, and second in 2024 is back-office operations (46% of respondents, up from 14% in 2023), followed by information technology (40% of respondents in 2024, up from 24% in 2023).
When asked to consider the top attributes that firms will seek as they recruit entry level talent for an AI-enabled workforce, the top three cited by European financial services leaders were the ability to adapt and flex (77%), having an innovative and experimental mindset (70%), and the ability to collaborate and work outside their focus area (44%). This year, being tech savvy did not rank as a top priority (34%).
European finance leaders plan to increase capital allocation to GenAI specifically
The survey data confirms that GenAI driven investment remains central to European financial firms, with 72% of executives planning to increase expenditure over the next six to 12 months. This is marginally lower than the 75% of leaders in 2023 who said they would actively invest in GenAI in the year ahead.
GenAI knowledge, future regulation, and keeping pace are leaders' top concerns
Focusing on GenAI specifically, the two biggest concerns according to the surveyed executives when it comes to integrating the technology remain the same as last year. European finance leaders cite limited understanding and experience of GenAI applications and the impact across the workforce (56% in 2024, up from 36% in 2023), followed by uncertainty about existing and pending potential regulatory impacts (38% in 2024, up from 29% in 2023). Ethical issues – which were ranked third in 2023 have fallen to eighth place, and leaders are now more concerned about the speed of evolution of GenAI progress compared to how fast they can integrate it into their business (35%), followed by cost of implementation and control frameworks (26%).
In reference to the broader AI landscape, only 11% of surveyed leaders stated that their firm is fully prepared for incoming regulation, while 70% say their firm is only limited or partially prepared, and 15% do not even have an AI regulatory risk framework in place.
Ethics in GenAI integration
On GenAI specifically, surveyed leaders continue to raise concerns about ethics. The top concern in 2024 for GenAI adoption is the quality of output (cited by 56% of all respondents), followed by transparency and explainability (54%), privacy (53%), and the potential for discrimination, bias, and lack of fairness (47%). To manage potential ethical implications arising from GenAI integration, 14% of respondents claimed they have already put an overall AI ethics framework in place, with a further 31% in the early stages of development. However, a quarter (25%) of respondents stated their firm is yet to develop an AI ethics framework, and 24% said they have no plans to develop one.
