Banks must rebuild around governed AI agents, report

Backbase has published its Banking Predictions 2027 report, which says banks will need to rebuild their operating models around governed AI agents.

The Amsterdam-based banking technology company's third annual predictions report outlines 10 trends for the year ahead, drawing on contributors from commercial, retail and capital markets, as well as venture and fintech. It argues that a widening divide is opening between institutions that embed AI in day-to-day operations and those that remain stuck in limited pilot projects.

It says the shift comes as lenders contend with margin pressure and tighter oversight. In Backbase's view, AI deployment is moving beyond experimentation to questions of governance, accountability and organisational design.

One of the report's central themes is that the pilot phase is ending. Backbase says 23% of financial institutions already run agentic AI in production, and it expects leading banks to adopt centralised orchestration platforms that can reuse tools across the business while embedding compliance from the outset.

"The shift to agentic AI is happening much faster than banks think.... Models will continue to improve, but the work organizations need to do to integrate them into their operations and prepare for new distribution channels cannot wait," said Panagiotis Kriaris, Senior Advisor, fintech, payments and banking.

A second theme is spending discipline. The report says 36% of the world's major banks expect to more than double their AI budgets, but adds that only 30% of the use cases announced by the world's 50 largest banks included impact metrics.

That gap will put pressure on technology teams and suppliers to show a direct return on investment for each use case. The report argues that banks will need to link AI spending to baseline costs, running costs and measurable outcomes if they want to defend budgets.

"In 2027, every AI line item in banking will have to justify itself like any other investment, with a baseline, a running cost, and a return. Leaders that can't show all three will see their budgets move to teams that can," said Greg Fahy, Chief Technology Officer, Digital Banking, Backbase.

Governance focus

The report also identifies governance as a major operational issue. As banks move from single assistants to multiple agents across workflows, written policies alone will not satisfy regulators or internal risk functions.

Instead, institutions will need systems that assign verified identities to individual agents, log actions in real time and allow banks to disable an agent immediately if needed. The argument reflects a broader shift in banking regulation towards traceability and auditability in automated decision-making.

"2027 will be a big change when it comes to AI: how responsibly we use it and to what extent.... As we scale, accountability must remain clear: we are responsible for every decision and every customer outcome. Trust, security and regulatory discipline have to be built in from the start and by the bank," said Fatbardha Rino, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Jet Bank.

Backbase Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jouk Pleiter said the arrival of AI agents changes core management assumptions rather than simply adding another layer of software. Banks may be able to buy access to models, he said, but they still retain responsibility for outcomes.

"Banks can rent AI models, but they have to own the accountability for what those agents do. That changes the operating model itself, as agents become colleagues and people stay accountable for the decisions that matter," said Pleiter.

Operating model

Another of the report's five main industry predictions is that banks will need to redesign roles, structures and processes as AI agents take on more preparatory work. The changes are likely to begin in operational areas where processes are fragmented and manual intervention remains common.

The report describes a model in which agents handle tasks in the back-office "messy middle", while people continue to make final decisions. In that setup, productivity gains are less about automating individual tasks and more about changing how the organisation is structured.

"Launching pilot initiatives and testing AI use cases is relatively straightforward. The greater challenge lies in transforming the organization itself by building the right culture, fostering the right behaviours, and creating the conditions that enable AI to scale sustainably and deliver meaningful business value," said Rosanna Fornarino, Chief Operating Officer, Judobank.

The final major theme is the shift from app-based banking to conversational interfaces. The report says 14% of consumers globally already allow AI to choose financial providers on their behalf, suggesting banks may increasingly have to serve software agents as well as human customers.

That could alter how banks attract and retain customer relationships, especially if third-party assistants begin to sit between consumers and financial institutions. The report argues that banks able to respond, advise and act through consent-based conversational systems may be better placed to retain those relationships.

"There's already a high degree of comfort across generations with interacting through conversational AI. The bank has to be ready for the person at its front door to be an agent," said Eugene Deeny, Lead Industry Advisor, Banking and Capital Markets, Endava.