For decades, the financial industry has replaced banknotes and coins with “invisible” assets through technological implementations. However, innovation in the sector has moved at a slow pace when dealing with something as sensitive as people’s finances. In 2026, the black swan is beginning to emerge: the first steps of AI agents that will redefine the industry; as they will many others. The financial black swan is not a crisis: it’s a huge change.
The first step has been the use of Gen AI without the customer perceiving it. Coding, fraud prevention, phishing detection, and credit assessment are some of its tasks. But it is now beginning to become a tool for managing users’ finances. In March, Bank of America’s virtual assistant surpassed 20 million users in the United States; NatWest signed an agreement with OpenAI for similar functionalities, and Revolut launched AIR, a conversational tool to manage portfolios.
In July 2026, the Mills Review, published by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), the UK’s financial regulator, pointed out that AI agents will become the new financial interface. Essentially, an AI assistant will manage budgets, answer queries, generate reports on demand, and move money between accounts. How much was spent on a vacation, how a stock portfolio performed over the past month, or canceling an annual subscription will be as easy as making a query to ChatGPT is today.
It also argues that Open Banking will evolve toward a model in which AI agents will have access to a broader range of financial products to enable intelligent decisions across different areas, and highlights that this will lead to an evolution in regulation.
This represents a major shift in the industry, where historically the leading banks have remained the same. Differentiation can now change everything, and it would not be surprising if new players manage to break into the ranks of the world’s most important financial institutions. The reason sounds obvious when explained: if the experience with an AI assistant can manage customers’ money better, it will prevail. This is not an exaggeration: just four years ago, nobody knew ChatGPT, and now we have become so accustomed to it that we all ask ourselves: why shouldn’t I manage my assets with a chatbot that can provide reports and recommendations? A study by JPMorgan found that half of Gen Z wanted to use them to manage their finances.
In its 2026 report on the financial sector, the World Economic Forum urged organizations to move with “urgency” and “discipline”. The greatest benefits will go to those working on a holistic redesign of workflows and technology architecture.
One of the major questions is why, if the financial sector has such a strong technological tradition, the emergence of AI Agents represents a black swan. There are several reasons. First, historically, customers used banks to execute transactions; therefore, in the executive conversations, avoiding risk was prioritized over innovation. This is changing with the emergence of digital banks—which are generally more inclined toward disruption—and shifts in consumer habits, such as the inclusion of AI Agents in everyday life. The challenge of the future is not to provide a tool, but to redesign experiences to address this transition comprehensively. AI has the potential to resolve the technological debt involved in migrating traditional banks, which have historically struggled the most with this transition.
The second reason is the technical debt banks have demonstrated in dealing with change. This has also occurred in other industries, but the idea of paying for a premium license for every employee and expecting immediate returns only leads to frustration. There is significant resistance when it becomes clear that certain tasks and workflows will inevitably be different from what has been established.
The third reason is regulation. Technology companies, banks, and authorities will need to maintain an ongoing dialogue to ensure that innovation and integrations do not affect users’ personal data or security, while ensuring that restrictions do not become a barrier to progress. One of the most valuable lessons from the banking sector’s legacy is the importance of being extremely careful when dealing with something as sensitive as people’s money.
For many years, the impact of AI was often explained as something that belonged to a distant future. In the financial sector, it is already a reality: it is part of multiple tasks and is beginning to become an asset in the customer proposition. With AI Agents, innovation can no longer—and should no longer—go unnoticed. New habits require the redesign of customer journeys, and this could represent a revolution for the sector. What is at stake is no small matter: the management of millions of people’s money and a battle for the competitiveness of banks on a scale rarely seen before.
The author, Nicolas Kaplún, is CEO of Financial Services AI Studio at Globant.