Banks must be ‘responsible’ as industry races to deploy AI agents: State Street
US bank State Street expects the uses of artificial intelligence in finance to “multiply” in the coming years, but stressed that “responsible deployment” is vital as the industry confronts daunting potential security risks. The call came on the first day of the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit in Hong Kong, where executives from leading firms including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley,…
State Street anticipates a significant surge in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) within the finance sector over the forthcoming years, yet it underscores the critical importance of responsible deployment due to the substantial security risks involved. This concern was expressed at the inaugural day of the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit held in Hong Kong, where executives from prominent institutions like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Pimco, and Bridgewater discussed the emerging landscape of AI in finance.
Manoj Bohra, State Street's chief data and AI officer, disclosed that the US-based multinational bank currently employs over 350 AI use cases, a substantial increase from approximately 150 cases reported last year. Despite this rapid expansion, Bohra emphasized that such accelerated progress must not compromise responsibility and a well-governed ecosystem.
Addressing a media round table on Tuesday, Bohra posed a crucial question: "Can we create a certain level of agency for this process so that agents can manage it?" He further suggested that it would be optimal for the entire financial industry to collaborate and establish standard protocols for agent-to-agent communication. However, Bohra admitted that achieving this feat is currently beyond their grasp, although State Street is actively developing a "technology architecture" to facilitate the secure exchange of information among AI agents.
Bohra clarified that agent-to-agent communication would likely not involve a direct interaction between agents from different companies, as this would necessitate the presence of a "foreign object" within a company's systems. Instead, State Street is contemplating the introduction of a gateway, which would serve as the exclusive communication channel for agents to exchange information bidirectionally.
This gateway would provide agents with predefined identities and the minimal entitlements required to perform their assigned tasks.
Bohra reiterated the bank's commitment to investing in AI technology, acknowledging that this represents a significant paradigm shift for the finance industry.
Written by urgent.news from SCMP Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
