- Our AI Sprint brought together industry experts to explore AI’s growing impact on UK financial services. Here’s what we learned about making AI work for everyone.
By Colin Payne, Head of Innovation Services
Still being a relative ‘new kid’ at the FCA, I can approach everything with a fresh pair of eyes. Or, in the case of our AI Sprint event, with a futuristic set of eyes.
I walked into the room wearing my Ray-Ban Meta glasses, capturing our guests’ emotions and feedback in real-time. AI helped me process responses on the fly – a technology still only just emerging, a set of tools bringing ideas to life in very different ways.
It was the perfect introduction to think about the FCA’s role in AI, and how the regulatory framework we already have in place can support the flourishing of AI in financial services.
Three things that surprised me
Here’s what really stood out to me from my first Sprint event.
First, trust isn’t just a buzzword. It’s the whole deal when it comes to embracing AI. And trust isn’t just about protection, it’s also about growth. I’m not saying to completely trust what the computer says – this is still very new technology. But this is about demonstrating that we as a sector can embrace AI safely and responsibly to address those challenges and deliver on massive potential. With that trust, firms can get senior buy-in to experiment, and consumers will engage with AI-driven services. Trust in AI is like trying to build a house from the roof down – you need solid foundations first. Neither the FCA nor firms can establish this trust alone, but together we can create the environment needed for AI to flourish.
Second, firms aren’t looking for more regulation – they want clarity on existing rules. They’re eager to innovate but need to understand how current frameworks apply to AI. We are of one mind on this. As our chief executive Nikhil Rathi explained in his letter to the Prime Minister, we want to use our existing outcomes-based frameworks as much as possible. We’re not looking to create new regulations for AI within financial services. We want to make the ones we already have work for this burgeoning sector.
Finally, the future challenges aren’t what I expected. Yes, everyone’s thinking about AI bias, but the conversations about ‘unknown unknowns’ were fascinating. What happens when AI makes impersonation scams more sophisticated? How do we ensure AI data centres are sustainable? These are the questions keeping practitioners up at night.
Why this matters
The UK has unique advantages in AI innovation – a robust regulatory framework, world-class talent, and sophisticated financial markets. We’re perfectly positioned, but innovation must be balanced with consumer protection. Sprint participants discussed current AI use cases that could help customers better manage personal loans while still being able to save. I saw a glimpse of our future – a future where AI innovation drives both growth and better consumer outcomes.
Where do we go from here?
I can already see that this AI Sprint is just the beginning. We’re working through all the feedback we received from the Sprint as well as other parts of the AI Lab, such as our AI Spotlight event. You can read about how we’re using that feedback and how we want to continue working together in our AI Sprint summary. We’ll be considering how we best enhance trust, clarify our rules and prepare for the ‘unknown unknowns’. We’re taking concrete steps straight away to support safe, growth-focused innovation:
- Expanding our AI Lab and Supercharged Sandbox to accelerate innovation.
- Working with the Synthetic Data Expert Group to enable safe testing of new ideas.
- Holding a roundtable with the ICO on 9 May 2025 to discuss with industry leaders about the challenges and opportunities they face in respect of AI adoption and wider innovation.
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