Two major EY surveys, one focused on banking, the other on wealth and asset management, paint a clear picture of where AI stands in financial services right now. Across both sectors, firms have moved well past the experimental phase: 77% of banks have actively launched generative AI applications, and 95% of wealth and asset management firms have scaled adoption across multiple use cases. The work isn’t just backend automation. Banks are prioritizing customer-facing applications in sales, marketing, and client services, while wealth managers are investing in personalized client outreach, advisor support tools, and real-time risk management. Agentic AI, systems capable of making autonomous decisions, represents the next frontier, with nearly all surveyed firms already familiar with it and a growing share moving toward implementation.
For students eyeing careers in finance, these findings provide actionable job-market intelligence. The roles being reshaped fastest are in the middle and back office — compliance, reporting, IT operations — but the survey data makes clear that front-office positions are next. Firms are building AI tools to support advisors, model client behavior, and generate leads. That means the analysts, associates, and advisors entering the field in the next few years won’t just be users of these tools, they’ll be expected to evaluate them, govern them, and integrate them into client relationships. Two-thirds of early adopters said they’d revise their AI strategies if starting over, citing weak data governance and insufficient regulatory planning, gaps that ambitious new entrants can turn into a real advantage.
Stop by the UR career center in THC to strategize about how to position yourself for roles at the intersection of finance and technology, whether that’s a traditional banking track, a wealth management path, or something in fintech. It’s also worth reaching out to UR alumni working in financial services, particularly those at firms like the major banks and asset managers named in this research. Many of them are navigating these exact changes in real time and can offer perspective you won’t find in a job description. On your own, consider building fluency with AI governance concepts and data literacy through LinkedIn Learning, relevant coursework, or campus events. These are the skills the surveys flag as critical, and they’ll help differentiate you!
