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Financial Service Executives See Blockchain & AI as ‘Hugely Important’

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:49 PM
Lester Coleman
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:49 PM

The majority of financial service executives believe blockchain technology will be hugely important to their industry over the next 10 years, according to a survey sponsored by Synechron, a global and technology consultancy based in New York, N.Y.

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The TABB Group conducted the survey on behalf of Synechron, and it included 92 banking and capital markets institutions. The survey queried executives directly involved with technology decisions about the potential of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence.

More than 55% of respondents said that over the next 10 years, blockchain will be a “hugely important” technology in financial services.

However, only 12% said they currently have any blockchain deployments; 88% are either in R&D or doing nothing.

Hurdles To Adoption

When asked about the main hurdles to blockchain adoption, the top answer was “unclear legal and regulatory aspects,” followed by “unproven scalability and performance capabilities.” Interoperability was also a major concern.

A smaller majority – 71% – said artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will be hugely important. However, a larger percentage – 25% – said they have small deployments in this area.

Thirty-seven percent said there is no activity in the AI/machine learning area, while 34% said they are in R&D. Only 3.5% said they have actively deployed AI. Forty-percent said that the cost to develop and deploy of AI technology is the biggest barrier to adoption.

When asked about additional barriers to adoption of AI and machine learning, 25% cited the lack of compelling use cases while 24% said that a lack of understanding was the biggest barrier.

Also read: PwC Report: Block chain a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity for financial services

Focus: Blockchain And AI

The survey was conducted in conjunction with Synechron’s initiative to identify how financial services firms can use blockchain and AI. Synechron recently held its InSync Forum at the Metropolitan Club in New York City. Senior executives and technologists from 14 financial institutions met to discuss how blockchain and AI/machine learning can be applied at their companies.

Featured speakers included Wade Murray, managing director of innovation at Synechron; Stan Stalnaker, founding director of Hub Culture; Adam Devine, vice president of strategic partnerships at WorkFusion; and Synechron CEO Faisal Husain.

Featured image from Shutterstock.