#000000
#000000
con-block-row-bgcolor
#000000

2026 AI and Digital Trends in Financial Services

The Path to AI-Powered Customer Experiences for Financial Services

Explore the top industry insights from Adobe’s 2026 AI and Digital Trends research to understand the actions organizations must take now to turn AI-powered opportunities into trusted, personalized experiences at every stage of the client journey.

Decorative

Decorative

Section 1

Envisioning an Agentic Future

Decorative

Section 2

Building the Foundation for Scalable AI

Decorative

Section 3

Aligning Customer Trust with Real-World AI Applications

Decorative

Section 4

The Bottom Line for Financial Services

style
two up, xl-spacing-bottom

How Financial Services Firms Are Connecting AI to Customer Experience

The financial services industry is moving fast on AI. Two-thirds of firms say AI routinely automates processes across teams, and the industry outpaces others in deploying agentic AI in key customer-facing workflows. Despite this momentum, most organizations still lack the infrastructure needed to turn individual AI wins into orchestrated, end-to-end experiences. To unlock the next phase of value, firms must shift their focus from isolated deployments to enterprise-wide coordination.

This overview explores the Adobe 2026 AI and Digital Trends findings across three critical areas for financial services organizations: envisioning an agentic future, building the foundation for scalable AI, and aligning customer trust with real-world applications.

style
center, grid-width-8, l spacing bottom, no spacing top
Decorative

Section 1

Envisioning an Agentic Future

The financial services industry is further along the AI maturity curve than other industries in deploying AI where customers actually interact with it. But to maximize enterprise value, firms need to connect their agentic AI workflows end to end — from front office to back office — allowing the technology to compound impact across the entire organization.

background
#F5F5F5

The industry is actively automating workflows and has ambitious plans for agentic AI.

style
grid-width-10
Decorative
say their processes are routinely automated by AI.
style
grid-width-10

In the next 18 months, organizations expect to have the following agentic AI capabilities:

style
grid-width-10
Donut chart showing that over the next 18 months FSI organizations expect to use agentic AI for assisting marketing with campaign orchestration 61% Assisting marketing with campaign orchestration
Donut chart showing that over the next 18 months FSI organizations expect to use agentic AI for coordinating across multiple enterprise systems 55% Coordinating across multiple enterprise systems
donut chart showing that over the next 18 months FSI organizations expect to use agentic AI acting as a brand-facing digital representative 51%. Acting as a brand-facing digital representative
style
Three up, xl spacing, grid-width-10, center
style
Divider, container
background
#D8D8D8

The industry leads in agentic AI deployment in customer-facing workflows, but trails in back-office operations and training.

Percentage using agentic AI across the business or in multiple functions for these key workflows:
style
grid-width-10
Bar graph comparing financial services with the survey average in customer support (47% vs. 30% survey average,) marketing content creation and activation (30% vs. 22% survey average,) brand discovery and search (30% vs. 24% survey average,) personalization and recommendation (21% vs. 18% survey average,) back-office operations (15% vs. 25% survey average), and employee training and sales coaching (13% vs. 24% survey average.)
style
grid-width-10
style
Divider, container
background
#D8D8D8

Enterprise-wide AI adoption requires real-time actionable data.

Decorative
When it comes to advancing AI initiatives, 55% say their organization's progress is limited by its current level of data unification and structure.
Back to top
Decorative

Section 2

Building the Foundation for Scalable AI

Operational momentum can only go so far without the foundation to scale it. Unified data, the right talent, and strategic alignment are the connective tissue that transform isolated AI wins into enterprise-wide customer experience orchestration.

background
#F5F5F5

Most firms know where AI can drive the greatest impact.

Decorative
have identified practical, high-value AI use cases, compared to 64% of the survey average.

Yet their agentic AI implementation efforts face real headwinds:

style
grid-width-10
donut charts showing what FSI organization say is holding agentic AI implementation back including data integration and quality issues (77%) cite data integration and quality issues.
donut charts showing what FSI organization say is holding agentic AI implementation back including talent and skills gaps (72%) cite talent and skills gaps.
donut chart showing what FSI organization say is holding agentic AI implementation back including unclear ROI or business case (62%) cite unclear ROI or business case.
style
Three up, m spacing, grid-width-10, center, xl spacing bottom
style
Divider, container
background
#D8D8D8
Decorative
Over one-third (36%) of firms do not have the shared customer data platforms that enable the widespread adoption of generative or agentic AI, compared to only 24% of the survey average.
style
Divider, container
background
#D8D8D8

The industry takes a cost-first approach to evaluating AI, distorting a fuller picture of the technology’s real value: customer experience.

style
Decorative say their leadership prioritizes purely financial metrics — cost, ROI, and revenue — when assessing the success of AI initiatives.
Decorative struggle to demonstrate measurable returns on their AI investments using CX-related metrics.
style
Two up, m spacing top, grid width 10, center, xxl spacing bottom
style
Divider, container
background
#D8D8D8
style
grid-width-8
Decorative
Only 19% of decision makers report strong executive-practitioner alignment on AI strategy.

Misalignment is largely driven by:

Colleagues with prompt boxes that read “Ask AI to gather our customer data across channels” and the other reads “We’re not quite set up for that yet.” Lack of executive understanding of AI
AI text box that reads “You’re overdue on your AI essentials training.” Resistance to change
Text boxes that read “AI goals and strategy deck” and “File not found.” Insufficient communication of AI goals and strategies
style
Three up, m spacing, grid-width-10, center, xl-spacing-bottom
style
Divider, container
background
#D8D8D8

These foundational gaps show up downstream in content supply chains and journey orchestration.

style
grid-width-8
Decorative say their content supply chain is largely linear and resource intensive.
Decorative are using agentic or generative AI for journey design and omnichannel orchestration, compared to 47% of the survey average.
style
Two up, l spacing bottom, grid width 10, center, m spacing top
Back to top
Decorative

Section 3

Aligning Customer Trust with Real-World AI Applications

Financial firms are uniquely optimistic about AI’s value to customers — and they understand where customer comfort begins and ends. AI experiences that prioritize transparency and human support will earn trust at every touchpoint.

background
#FAFAFA

Financial services is more confident than other industries about AI’s customer benefits.

style
grid-width-10
Three donut charts showing that 76% of FSI companies believe AI will mprove experiences for consumers, compared to 65% of the survey average and 67% believe AI will help customers save money and increase their purchasing power, compared to 56% of the survey average. believe AI will improve experiences for consumers, compared to 65% of the survey average.
Three donut charts showing that 76% of FSI companies believe AI will mprove experiences for consumers, compared to 65% of the survey average and 67% believe AI will help customers save money and increase their purchasing power, compared to 56% of the survey average. believe AI will help customers save money and increase their purchasing power, compared to 56% of the survey average.
style
Two up, m spacing top, grid width 10, center, xxl spacing bottom
style
Divider, container
background
#D8D8D8

The industry understands that human involvement shapes comfort with agentic experiences.

style
grid-width-10
“Our customers would be comfortable with their personal AI agent working directly on their behalf with a human representative from my organization.”
“Our customers would be comfortable with their personal AI agent making a final decision without their intervention about a product or service from my organization, like a purchase or subscription renewal.”
style
Divider, container
background
#D8D8D8

To maintain customer trust in agentic AI, the industry prioritizes these three actions:

style
grid-width-8
AI text box that reads “How can I help you?” Clear disclosure when customers interact with AI
Easy escalation to human customer support
Photo of woman with text boxes that read “Review contract,” “Fill out form,” “Send for approval.” Human-in-the-loop review and quality controls
style
Three up, grid-width-10, center, align-height
Back to top
Decorative

Section 4

The Bottom Line for Financial Services

background
#FAFAFA

The path forward requires a unified foundation that makes end-to-end orchestration possible.

Firms that connect data, prioritize executive-practitioner alignment on AI strategy, and focus on customer trust will turn AI investments into lasting competitive advantage. Here are the top three action items for financial services organizations:

Decorative

Extend agentic AI beyond customer-facing workflows.

The industry outpaces others in deploying agentic AI in customer support and marketing — but back-office, training, and orchestration workflows remain underdeveloped. Closing those gaps will unlock compounding value.

Decorative

Rebuild the foundation as one connected system.

Unified data, strategic alignment, and a focus on CX-oriented results separate AI investment from AI-driven returns. Address those foundations now, before agentic deployment widens the gap.

Decorative

Earn trust in every interaction.

Incorporate transparency and human oversight into AI-enabled products and services, especially where agents are involved.

style
Three up, m spacing bottom, center
Back to top

View more insights from the 2026 AI and Digital Trends research.

Learn more

APPENDIX

Research Methodology

For Adobe’s 16th annual AI and Digital Trends research, Oxford Economics, in partnership with Adobe, conducted global surveys of 3,000 executives and practitioners and 4,000 customers to better understand how organizations are leveraging AI to capture customer interest, build brand loyalty, and augment customer experience (CX) workflows — and how customers are responding to these changes. The surveys were fielded online and via computer-assisted telephonic interviewing (CATI) from October through November 2025. “Financial services” refers to a global set of executives and practitioners from organizations in the financial services industry. This group makes up 17% of respondents and represents a wide range of business sizes. View the 2026 AI and Digital Trends report for more on the full research methodology.

style
center, grid width 8, l-spacing-top, m-spacing-bottom
Back to top
style
grid-width-8

https://main--bacom--adobecom.aem.live/fragments/resources/cards/thank-you-collections/digital-trends

See all resources
cardTitle
The top financial services industry takeaways.
CardDescription
Understand the actions financial services leaders must take now to turn AI investment into trusted, personalized client experiences.
cardDate
2026-08-07
cardImage
primaryTag
caas:content-type/report
Tags
caas:content-type/report, caas:topic/thought-leadership, caas:topic/digital-trends, caas:industry/financial-services