The world is on course to generate 182 zettabytes of data in 2025. For scale, one zettabyte is about as many ‘bytes’ as there are grains of sand in the world. Anyone working with data in Financial Services will almost certainly feel the weight of the data volume that the organisation manages, and may at times find it overwhelming. While Data Governance has always been essential, the greater the data volume, velocity, variety that an organisation creates, receives and manages, the more pressing good governance becomes.
That is where AI can be pivotal. While Artificial Intelligence intensifies the urgency for Data Governance in Financial Services, it can also assist in achieving it.
AI’s demand for robust Data Governance
Data Governance is the practice of ensuring data security, accuracy, accessibility, and usability. Put simply, AI without Data Governance does not work — in fact, its use would likely be disastrous.
AI training data needs Data Governance
Training Data is foundational to AI — it is how it learns what is ‘correct’ and how it should make decisions. Obviously, if AI bases its understanding of reality of inaccurate data, then it risks unwanted bias, unwanted outcomes, and an unwanted reputation for the organisation.
AI regulations require Data Governance
EU AI regulations require strict adherence to Data Governance standards, and while there is at the time of writing no specific regulation to govern AI in the UK, existing pieces of legislation (GDPR, consumer protection, Human Rights etc.) apply to many of the activities that AI will perform. Data Governance helps your AI adhere to the legislation that applies to your organisation.
How AI will support and enable your Data Governance In Financial Services
There are two main aspects to AI’s Data Governance potential. There is the technical side, in which it assists with processes and requirements, which also enable the cultural side, in which new capabilities can transform a financial organisation’s relationship with data.
AI-supported Data Governance
The potential is well known for automation and artificial intelligence to review data more accurately and quickly than humans can, and with AI ensuring data accuracy and consistency, it could vastly improve data quality while freeing humans for more complex tasks.
AI-enabled data culture
While the technical side of AI’s Data governance potential can be transformational and is not to be dismissed, for many, the more exciting aspect will be what that governance fosters.
Once AI has made governance more robust, teams will start to trust data more. Then, they will feel more comfortable using it, basing decisions on it, and making business cases with it.
Further down the line, AI-backed data will inform AI-powered programmes. What that leads to is a radical democratisation of data. For example, conversational AI will allow people with no programming ability to generate reports simply by describing verbally the data they want to present or visualise.
Arguably every business is a data business in this day and age, but Financial Services continues to be one of the most data-intense sectors, and if all teams can have accurate, trustworthy, user-friendly and demystified data at their fingertips, the quality of decision-making and business outcomes could see exponential improvement.
Transform your organisation with AI and Data Governance in Financial Services
AI and Data Governance form a virtuous circle — the better one is, the better the other can be. For Financial Services, creating a framework for either one can be transformational, but introducing both could have extraordinary results.
Agile Solutions’ …
- track record of data governance for leading financial services organisations
- regulatory expertise in the UK and EU
- development of bespoke AI artefact assessment models
…make us uniquely qualified to prepare your data systems and culture for AI, manage your AI strategy, and design tailored AI models to achieve your specific business goals.
To speak to a data, AI, and strategy expert who can assess your relationship with AI and governance, discuss your goals, and make strategic recommendations for your initiatives, get in touch today.
Further Reading
Your AI Handbook: Your guide to safe and compliant AI