In our digitally connected world, artificial intelligence (AI) is a priority for many industries. Adding intelligent security, analytics and more to your business can be a major differentiator. Financial institutions in particular are poised to benefit from the opportunities afforded by AI—however, the industry must responsibly use AI.

Modern financial institutions are confronting three major forces of change: technology advancement, rising customer expectations, and regulatory scrutiny. Customers today expect personalized digital experiences, including in their financial services. To deliver this, companies must understand and adopt the transformational technologies shaping today and our future, including AI. With the capacity to ingest and analyze vast quantities of data, AI can transform key business functions and enable the in-depth understanding of financial services customers necessary to deliver personalized services. Organizations that fail to integrate AI into their strategy will struggle to compete in the coming decade.

However, with all this data and interconnectivity comes increased scrutiny—especially when mistakes are made. Governments and individuals across the world are exploring the vast power of AI and its potentially disruptive impact. Privacy fears and concerns over workforce displacement are understandable, but there is also the possibility of biases in decision-making and a lack of control over the automated systems that AI enables. These concerns are valid, but with the right planning, oversight, and governance through a Responsible AI framework, financial institutions can reap the rewards of AI while avoiding pitfalls.

How can you facilitate Responsible AI?

At its core, Responsible AI is about centering people in AI frameworks, and upholding the principles that Microsoft stands for: secure, compliant, and trustworthy for both businesses and individuals. Institutions that fail to consider the full implications of unlocking intelligence-empowered financial services with AI are certain to meet with consumer backlash, loss of efficiency with responses to regulatory changes, and a myriad of other issues. Your customers need to trust you and that your intelligent tools are private and secure.

To incorporate Responsible AI into your digital transformation, your organization should consider the following principles in every step of your process:

• Design: All intelligent solutions must have privacy and security built into their design. This means that privacy, transparency, and security should be a top priority with new product features. AI systems should also include the ability to explain the rationale for decision-making to increase trust.
• Governance: The governance framework for AI systems needs to be built out of organizational core values and prioritize ethical considerations and regulations.
• Monitoring: Human supervision of AI needs to occur on an ongoing basis, including auditing of algorithm’s accountability, bias, and cybersecurity. This is essential, so teams can properly govern AI and adjust the systems to address bias. This is one of the key reasons that Microsoft is building our AI platforms in an open-source manner to enable outside verification and use.
• Training: For many employees, AI is a new and sometimes daunting concept. Employees must understand how AI systems operate and that the connection is two ways: employees should have a voice in the creation of intelligent systems and how AI might improve their day-to-day. Employees will also need to be trained to properly take advantage of the insights AI analysis can offer.

Source: https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/

Global iTS is a leading Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM Partner with offices all over GCC (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia KSA, Oman “Muscat”, UAE “Dubai”, and Kuwait), with domain expertise in Financial Services Sector Digital Transformation like” Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, Insurance Providers, Private Equity, and Investment Banking.