E-Paper
Sign In
AI spending in finance to top $75 billion as firms shift from pilots to scale
Global financial services firms are accelerating AI adoption, with industry investment set to exceed $75 billion this year as platforms move beyond automation
- PUBLISHED: Mon 17 Aug 2026, 5:16 PM
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a core component of the global financial services industry, with sector investment expected to exceed $75 billion in 2026 and rise to $125.13 billion by 2028, according to data from market intelligence provider Statista.
The spending surge reflects a broader shift as banks, asset managers and investment platforms move from experimenting with AI to embedding it across operations. Statista estimates that AI adoption could add more than $1 trillion annually to global banking through greater efficiency and growth.
Recommended For You
“Across the financial services industry, AI has moved from a competitive differentiator to an operational baseline,” the report said. It noted that 65 per cent of financial institutions reported actively deploying AI in 2025, with capital markets firms leading adoption at 68 per cent. More than 60 per cent of firms said they were using generative AI, up from 52 per cent a year earlier.
The technology is also gaining traction among investment platforms serving millions of retail investors. Industry estimates suggest between 320 million and 740 million active online brokerage accounts now participate in global capital markets, where AI is increasingly being used to automate compliance, analyse unstructured data and personalise investment strategies.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently said generative AI and related technologies have the potential to “dramatically increase the efficiency of capital markets” through process automation and analysis of complex data, adding that evidence suggests these benefits are already beginning to emerge.
For Tajinder Virk, Chief Executive Officer of investment platform Dealing, the transformation is no longer theoretical. “Because this has already moved beyond theory in financial services, it is starting to change how platforms work and how investors use them,” Virk said. “For a long time, the best tools, the best research, and the best analysis were largely in the hands of institutions. What is changing now is that technology is starting to bring some of that capability to everyday investors as well. That, to me, is the real shift.”
He argued that the value of AI should be measured by practical outcomes rather than technological hype. “If it helps investors understand risk better, make better decisions, save time, or avoid obvious mistakes, then it matters. If it doesn’t do that, then it is just hype,” he said.
Virk believes the next generation of investment platforms will be judged not only by execution speed but by their ability to help investors interpret risks and opportunities. “They need clarity,” he said. “Platform should not just show you data; it should help you understand what is happening in your portfolio.”
As financial institutions move from pilot projects to large-scale deployment, analysts expect AI capabilities in areas such as risk management, compliance and client services to become a key competitive differentiator, widening the gap between early adopters and firms that lag behind.
