Seven in ten investment managers are now actively deploying artificial intelligence in their front offices, according to new research from SimCorp, a global financial technology leader.
The findings, drawn from the firm’s 2026 InvestOps Report, represent a dramatic shift from the previous year’s survey, which found only around one in ten respondents actively using AI tools, with three-quarters acknowledging its potential but lacking a clear path to implementation.
The report gathered responses from 200 senior executives at asset managers, pension funds and insurance companies worldwide, each overseeing a minimum of $10bn in assets under management, and was conducted by independent research firm WBR Insights.
Among the report’s other key findings, vendor consolidation (58%) and modernising technology architecture and data infrastructure (54%) emerged as the foremost technology initiatives amongst buy-side firms. Both considered essential foundations for scaling AI, streamlining investment workflows and simplifying increasingly complex technology stacks.
When assessing third-party AI solutions, vendor stability was ranked the most important criterion by 57% of respondents, placing it ahead of feature sets.
For the first time in three years, innovation overtook operational efficiency as the primary driver of technology and operations investment decisions. Competitive differentiation through innovation was cited by 55% of respondents, compared with 44% for cost control and 33% for operational efficiency. Meanwhile, AI, generative AI and advanced analytics were identified by 72% of respondents as the area offering the greatest opportunity for technological advancement.
SimCorp also found a marked rise in optimism around private markets and alternative investments. The proportion of respondents believing this asset class offers the greatest opportunity for technological innovation grew by 24 percentage points year-on-year, reaching 51% in 2026, up from 27% in 2025.
SimCorp chief executive officer Peter Sanderson said, “AI adoption has dramatically shifted from pilots to business-critical applications in the front office. The advancements in AI can deliver the most value for investment professionals to enhance decision-making and efficiency when it is underpinned by a centrally governed and unified data layer.”
Sanderson added, “I’m not surprised to see 58 percent of firms in this survey choosing vendor and platform consolidation as a technology initiative. It’s the first step toward bringing all their data together so they can have better control, trust their information, see their entire portfolio clearly, and use AI to gain insights.”
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