Banks are preparing for a major increase in artificial intelligence investment as they look toward 2026, with compliance and risk teams firmly at the centre of those plans.
New research conducted by Hawk and Chartis shows that AI is no longer viewed as an experimental capability but as a core component of modern financial crime and compliance strategies.
According to the research, 82% of banking compliance and risk leaders expect their AI investment to grow by more than 25% over the next two to three years. A further 10% anticipate more modest growth of up to 25%. Only a very small minority expect spending to remain flat or decline, underlining how embedded AI has become in banks’ long-term technology roadmaps.
These findings are outlined in the report AI in Financial Crime and Compliance: Charting the Path from Pilot to Maturity, which examines how financial institutions are moving from pilot projects to scaled deployment.
Generative AI is attracting particularly strong interest, although banks appear split on how quickly to increase spending. The research shows that 46% of compliance and risk leaders expect their generative AI investment to rise by more than 25%, while an equal proportion expect increases of less than 25%. Only a small percentage expect no change or a reduction in generative AI investment.
Agentic AI, which enables systems to take autonomous actions within defined controls, is also on banks’ radar but remains at an earlier stage of adoption. Most respondents expect incremental growth, with 71% anticipating investment increases of up to 25%. A smaller group, 14%, predict larger increases, while the remainder foresee no change or a slight decrease.
For more insights into the growth of AI, download the reports here. There are two editions to the report: Banking and Payment & FinTech.
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