The People agenda for the risk function

AI and digitalisation are already leading to efficiency gains in banks’ risk management, most notably in monitoring, reporting, calculations and data preparation. The key question is therefore no longer whether capacity is being freed up, but how institutions utilise it: to reduce costs or to expand risk analysis in areas where measurable business value can be generated.

In the English-language white paper ‘The Risk Function’s People Agenda’, our experts outline the potential implications of both approaches for roles, skills and staff structure, and explain why the People Agenda thus becomes a strategic lever.

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The Risk Function´s People Agenda

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Key points at a glance

AI is transforming risk management

Throughout the entire risk management cycle, AI reduces the workload involved in routine tasks. Our experts anticipate that, in future, people and AI agents within the risk function will increasingly work together as an integrated team. Judgement, scrutiny, interpretation and decision-making will remain the responsibility of humans.

How AI is changing the workforce structure in risk management

The white paper illustrates how this might affect the workforce structure using two scenarios. If the efficiency gains are used primarily to cut costs, junior roles will decline significantly, and the risk function will become a lean compliance unit with diminishing strategic importance. If, on the other hand, the gains are reinvested, the Jevons paradox may come into play: because AI and automation make risk analyses faster and cheaper, demand for them may even rise under certain conditions. The junior workforce then remains stable, the middle management level grows, and the level of responsibility at director level increases.

Which risk management skills will be in demand in the future?

Regardless of the scenario, however, the skills required will undergo fundamental change. The white paper outlines competency profiles in the areas of risk analytics, risk operations and risk assurance, which combine data and AI expertise with in-depth regulatory knowledge and commercial judgement. The second scenario also requires a fundamental shift in roles: risk managers will act more as business partners whilst, at the same time, scrutinising both human and AI-driven decisions more rigorously, as automated decisions bring with them new risks such as model bias. For this transformation to succeed, a supportive culture is needed in which staff can grow into new roles, as well as a targeted talent and location strategy.

The value that new technologies can deliver depends on how organisations utilise the capacity they free up and build new capabilities. Download the white paper now to find out how you can position risk management as an active partner in value creation. You will gain practical insights into how to further develop roles, capabilities and organisational structures within your company’s risk function.