By D.K. Sharma, President & COO at Kore.ai.
The financial industry is no stranger to innovation. From ATMs and online banking to real-time stock trading, it’s a sector that is seemingly always prepared to embrace new technology to stay ahead of the curve and redefine what’s possible in financial services.
And in this age of generative AI (GenAI), financial institutions have a wealth of areas to explore, not least how to scale digital transformation without losing the human touch. But such change is not just about automating transactions. Are they able to offer hyper-personalised experiences at scale?
GenAI is already streamlining previously manual tasks like FAQs, fraud detection, and onboarding by harnessing the speed, consistency, and scale of Large Language Models (LLMs) that traditional methods can’t match. But going further, GenAI can hyper-personalise banking services — offering a level of customisation that’s not just reactive, but proactive. Services that are tailored to customer’s needs, habits, and lifestyles.
Automation is only part of the answer
Take for example, a large bank in the Middle East, wanting to enrich its customer service operation. The company deployed modular AI agents capable of intelligently automating complex financial workflows across various touchpoints. These agents not only offer multilingual, personalised support for repetitive or complex queries, they can seamlessly connect with live human agents in case of sensitive or risky matters. These agents became the backbone of the company’s Service 2.0 vision, streamlining resolutions, reducing operational effort, and improving overall customer experiences through instant, personalised service.
The combination of AI and human expertise can deliver speed and personalisation at scale, while ensuring human-in-loop for decisions in sensitive matters to be fair, compliant, and sensitive to real-life circumstances.
Personalisation is more than smart, it’s strategic
What links both of these digital banks is that personalisation isn’t just about giving customers what they want. It‘s about anticipating what they’ll need next. With GenAI, they can create hyper-tailored financial products and services that feel more like a partnership than a transaction.
For example, Al Futtaim group deployed search AI agents that offer highly personalised product options to its customers based on their preferences and context. In another case, a FinTech startup from North America, built a debt collection AI agent that would practically yet emphatically interact with customers for loan repayment reminders or to work out the payment schedule. That’s personalisation, not just in what gets done, but how it’s done.
But what’s new is the emotional depth AI can now simulate. With the evolution of agentic AI and LLMs, digital agents can engage in human-like conversation, understand sentiment, offer tailored next steps and even mimic certain emotional cues. For banks the world over, GenAI now means that millions of customers can have a personal service without the need for an army of human agents on call.
That said, there are always times when customers want to deal with a real person. It could be that a customer is disputing a charge or making a probate-related enquiry. In cases like this, they need more than answers. They want – they need – to feel heard. These are the moments that don’t just require artificial intelligence but emotional intelligence as well, something only a real person can provide.
Traditional banks still have time and an advantage
But don’t assume that such technology is only suitable for digital-first banks. Yes, they may have the head start, but traditional institutions have something powerful on their side: trust. Customers often already have long-standing relationships with these banks. The key is to modernise intelligently by identifying areas where AI can make the most immediate impact without overhauling entire systems overnight.
Quick wins include automating onboarding processes, simplifying routine checks and handling common queries. These free up human agents to focus on more complex, high-touch interactions. The goal isn’t to replace people. Instead, it’s about giving them better tools not just to improve efficiency but to enhance the entire customer experience.
Human-centred AI is the future
By automating routine processes with intelligence and empathy, banks can shift their human resources toward what matters most: connection, trust, and service. The financial institutions that will thrive aren’t the ones that lean entirely on automation or stubbornly resist it. They’ll be the ones that blend both—harnessing AI for speed and scale, while doubling down on the uniquely human elements that build relationships.