Artificial intelligence in financial services
Six major technology firms have been challenged on their role in the use of AI in the UK’s financial services sector by the Head of the House of Commons’ Treasury Committee, Dame Meg Hillier. The inquiry covered areas such as specific strategies for using AI systems in financial services, transparency methods, and risk mitigation.
None of us can really be surprised by this more interrogative approach by government officials. As AI usage becomes more embedded across all types of sectors, regulation will become top of mind for any government.
Staying on top of and being mindful of compliance and evolving government mandates will be essential for businesses as things develop.
Cybersecurity
Cyberattacks aren’t a futuristic threat but a real and present danger, with Land Rover one of the most recent high profile attacks.
Financial services firms face higher levels of threat. According to recent threat intelligence research from Radware, financial services bore 44% of the total layer 7 DNS attack activity during 2024, whilst experiencing the steepest growth in DDoS attacks , increasing 393% year-over-year.
In response to this, firms need to set clear routes of communication to protect from outside interference.
This means greater education on why these security threats are important and centralised employee engagement platforms. More widely, communicators need to stay in tune with how their people are communicating to fortify against threats from any opportunity.
Do take a look at our cybersecurity focus: https://products.106comms.com/cybersecurity/
Talent management strategies
According to the EY 2024 Reimagined Survey, leaders in the financial services sector stand to lose materially if they stay wedded to legacy thinking instead of embracing bold new strategy. With the likes of FinTechs, neobanks, and other non-traditional competitors, FS firms can’t afford to let skills gaps widen.
Now, for many firms, this is a great opportunity for ground up refocussing on tailored career path creation. In part, this means clarifying how roles contribute to the wider purpose of the organisation, to relate business needs to career opportunities. This includes reviewing learning assets and developing learning solutions that support the most critical skills for any given role.
For communicators, this demands transparency about open roles and skill requirements to help employees find transitional opportunities, such as internal job markets or gig platforms.
