For decades there has been an unsustainable status quo within Financial Crime Compliance (FCC). There are financial crime problems today that existed 15-20 years ago, and banking and financial services organizations have been slow in finding innovative ways to solve them.
The good news is, after years of hyped-up hope for Machine Learning (ML) and, more broadly, AI, AI agents are taking hold in FCC operations. Today, actual proven and trusted software exists and is being deployed in top financial crime compliance programs around the world.
What are AI agents? They are automations that can execute complex, multistep workflows across digital environments and apply reasoning. They are a combination of traditional AI/ML, GenAI, and human collaboration that is driving the increase in AML and FCC AI adoption. The elements include:
- Executing numerous and simultaneous programmable tasks
- Data and information gathering and organization
- Ability to mimic human analysis, reason, decision-making, and author narrative explanations
- Interaction, guidance, and validation with “humans in the loop”
- Improving capability as it processes human-corrected decisions
Key Benefits: How AI Agents Create the Foundation for Progress
Agentic AI adoption will impact AML and FCC leaders, organizations and workers. Here’s how…
1. AML and FCC leaders: Greater Consistency, Strengthened Compliance, Freed-up Staffing
Agentic AI will bring greater confidence that work is done consistently, backlogs don’t accumulate, and compliance with policy and regulations is significantly strengthened. Staff will be freed up to work on long-delayed projects, employees can be given a path to work that improves their careers, and management will not fear the next looming overflow of alerts that bury teams, increase risk, and explode costs.
2. Banking and Financial Services Organizations: Visible/measurable benefits, Expenses stabilized, risk reduced, focus on growth
Agentic AI will provide visible and measurable benefits of AI – a key win for executive management. At first, organizations will see expenses stabilize and risk reduced. Over time, Agentic AI will enable more focus on growth, new products, and expanding operations without fear that support teams will need to grow substantially or compliance risk will be uncontained.
3. Workers: Moving up the ladder + No More Boredom
Change is coming for those whose responsibilities and tasks are programmable. For some, the change could be sudden; for others, adoption delays mean change is further away. Rote and repetitive work can be programmed – a core feature of AI agents. For some, this means it is time to plan to move up the AML and FCC career ladder into a role requiring more complex decision-making. For those where programmable work is only a part of their day, they’ll have more time for other duties. While disruption is not ideal for many, Agentic AI will move AML and FCC workers away from days of boredom and repetition to more fulfilling work.
In a recent article, WorkFusion’s CEO, Adam Famularo said, “The rise of AI agents marks a turning point in how we think about AI in business. The future of work isn’t just about using AI — it’s about embracing AI agents that can work side-by-side with humans, taking on tasks and making decisions that free employees to focus on more strategic work.”
Since 2022, WorkFusion’s AI Agents have been proven and trusted technology controls that have helped financial crime compliance teams around the world modernize their FCC operations. To learn more about our AI Agents for Financial Crime compliance, sign up for a quick demo. Or, download our recent paper How AI Agents Reduce Risks in AML and Sanctions Compliance Programs | WorkFusion.