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Our latest research shows that nine in ten financial services firms have increased their use of AI in customer-facing operations in the past twelve months, with 88% believing it can improve customer outcomes. At the same time, more than three-quarters believe their own organisation’s AI strategy risks harming vulnerable customers. 

That tension – accelerating deployment, declining confidence – sits at the heart of where the financial services sector finds itself right now.  

And with firms being pulled in three directions at once, it isn’t hard to understand why. 

• The Government wants faster AI adoption, seeing it as an engine of innovation and growth, and it wants the UK’s financial sector at the front of the queue.  
• Meanwhile, policymakers warn that poorly governed AI can expose consumers to serious harm, and in a sector where decisions touch some of the most vulnerable moments in people’s lives, the consequences of getting it wrong can be lasting.  
• Regulators, like the FCA, expect firms to deliver fair outcomes under Consumer Duty, without clearly defining what responsible AI deployment should look like in practice. Little wonder that 85% of the industry is calling for the FCA to be more specific on AI. 

Caught between a push to innovate and reap the benefits, a warning to be careful, and a loosely-defined regulatory standard, firms are pushing ahead with AI, but without the design principles and governance structures needed to deploy it safely. 

The problem? Too many businesses are leading with the technology, rather than the outcome. 

Only 31% sandbox-test their AI systems for biased or unethical outcomes before deployment; just 27% test using vulnerable customer scenarios, and 26% conduct formal impact assessments on vulnerable customers. 

Our new research – based on a survey of 1,000 senior decision-makers across UK financial services, a survey of 1,000 financially vulnerable consumers, alongside in-depth interviews industry interviews – explores: 

• Why firms believe AI presents both major opportunity and major risk 
• The biggest areas of concern around customer outcomes 
• Why confidence in AI governance is lagging behind adoption 
• The growing tension between innovation, regulation and trust 
• What responsible AI deployment looks like in regulated environments 
• The simple, practical design principles firms can use to help close the gap between confidence and implementation 

Download the report to find out what separates the firms getting this right from those who are, in the words of one industry leader, scaling exclusion rather than support.