Trust, Not Trials, Will Drive AI Adoption in Banking

Banks have deployed artificial intelligence across fraud detection, customer service, compliance and risk management, yet many promising pilots still fail to reach production. Ben Saunders, co-founder of AI-native consultancy WeBuild-AI, argues that the constraint is less about technology or regulation than organisational readiness. Unclear data ownership, accountability and governance can erode confidence among executives, compliance teams and frontline staff, preventing successful trials from becoming repeatable capabilities across a bank.

The Fintech Times published Saunders’ commentary on Sept. 2, 2026, citing a World Economic Forum forecast that global spending on AI in banking will reach $97 billion by 2027. Saunders said banks should involve business, risk, compliance and technology teams from the outset, with clear ownership, measurable outcomes and controls for monitoring, auditing and human oversight. Such foundations could move AI beyond isolated proofs of concept and embed it in workflows including KYC and AML document preparation and review.