Many retail banks recognize the potential of generative AI as a significant advancement, but few feel prepared to harness its fullest potential.
According to Capgemini Research Institute’s World of Retail Banking report, a large share of respondents (70%) said they plan to increase their investments in digital transformation by up to 10% this year. However, only a mere 4% of surveyed retail banks indicated readiness to fully embrace intelligent automation driven by generative AI.
Technology Preparedness
The Capgemini survey set out to gauge retail banks’ current infrastructure data maturity and their commitment to AI adoption. The findings revealed that many banks are not yet primed to excel in a technology-driven banking landscape—at least not yet. Just 4% of retail banks scored high in both business commitment and technological capabilities, while 41% received average ratings, indicating a general unpreparedness to embrace advanced technologies.
Looking at the data on a global scale, the research highlighted that 27% of North American banks exhibited low readiness, while the figures were more pronounced for European banks and Asia-Pacific banks at 31% and 48%, respectively.
Monitoring Performance
Currently, many banks are in the process of assessing the impact of AI on their operations. Over 60% of banks reported that they are in the process of identifying and developing key performance indicators (KPIS), while fewer (26%) said they’ve already established KPIs but aren’t actively measuring them.
Because generative AI is still in its early stages, the report cautions against the risks of delayed realization of suboptimal results and outcomes from retail bank experiments with the technology. This could lead to what Capgemini terms as “generative AI silent failure.” Indeed, 39% of respondents said they’re dissatisfied with the outcomes of their AI use cases, signaling a potential shift away from leveraging the technology in the future.