Moving beyond bots to agentic AI

The banking sector has long been at the forefront of digital transformation, but the pace of change accelerated dramatically with the rise of artificial intelligence.

What began with the introduction of chatbots is now evolving into a new era: agentic AI, autonomous agents capable of performing increasingly complex tasks. Irish banks, like many of their international peers, have moved from experimenting with chatbots to exploring the far more transformative world of agentic AI.

What began as simple question‑and‑answer systems is now progressing toward intelligent, autonomous agents capable of supporting customers, employees, and entire banking operations with unprecedented sophistication.

As the Irish market continues to consolidate, compete, and modernise, the shift from traditional automation to agentic AI represents a defining moment — one that could shape customer expectations, regulatory conversations, and workforce transformation across Ireland’s financial services landscape.

Owen Lewis

Partner, Head of AI & Velocity, Head of Banking & Capital Markets, Global Lead for Financial Services Cost Transformation

KPMG in Ireland

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From chatbots to intelligent decisioning

Irish customers have become increasingly comfortable interacting with digital channels, whether through mobile apps, online portals, or virtual assistants. Early‑stage chatbots helped absorb call‑centre demand and streamline simple tasks, but today’s AI systems go far beyond scripted interactions.

Banks globally, and increasingly in Ireland, are deploying conversational AI that can support complex financial decisioning. These next‑generation assistants integrate real‑time analytics, behavioural insights, and predictive models to guide customers through decisions on savings, debt, pensions, and investments. Rather than offering generic suggestions, they can simulate financial outcomes, compare options, and provide tailored advice aligned with a customer’s financial goals.

For Irish banks navigating cost pressures and heightened expectations for personalised service, this evolution provides a dual benefit: improved customer experience and a more efficient, scalable distribution model.

Personalised customer journeys at scale

AI is also enabling banks to deliver highly individualised customer journeys. BBVA in Spain introduced a persona engine that dynamically tailors product recommendations based on customer behaviour and interaction history.

This shift, from one‑size‑fits‑all product pushes to context‑aware, continuously evolving journeys, marks a step change from generic product offerings toward journeys that are continually refined, contextual, and tailored to each individual’s needs

Irish consumers increasingly expect personalised digital experiences, influenced by interactions across retail, telecoms, and entertainment. Agentic AI provides the capability to deliver this level of personalisation safely and responsibly, even across large and diverse customer bases.

With Ireland’s banking sector undergoing ongoing digital transformation, AI‑driven personalisation could become a key differentiator, particularly as new market entrants and fintech platforms continue to raise the competitive bar.

Ambient finance: AI in the background

Another emerging trend is ambient finance, AI systems that operate quietly in the background, surfacing the right prompt or insight at precisely the right time. Singapore’s OCBC Bank, for example, has rolled out AI‑driven nudges across wearables and smart devices, offering personalised alerts and reminders that help customers manage spending, saving, and budgeting.

With more than 250 million insights delivered each year, this approach demonstrates the power of subtle, context‑aware AI to reshape financial behaviour.

For Ireland, where budgeting, mortgage planning, and long‑term savings are increasingly top of mind for households, ambient AI could play an important role in supporting better financial wellbeing. Ireland’s high rate of mobile banking adoption makes it a strong candidate for similar innovations that blend smart analytics with real‑time personal financial management tools.

Workforce and adoption challenges

Despite the momentum, the global banking sector still shows uneven adoption of advanced agentic AI. While most banks have pockets of excellence, often within customer service, fraud detection, or credit analytics, true enterprise‑wide adoption remains two to three years away for many institutions.

Technology is rarely the issue. The bigger challenge is organisational readiness. For Irish banks, this includes:

Redefining workforce strategies
Bridging skills gaps
Integrating human expertise with autonomous systems
Establishing governance frameworks that ensure responsible AI use
Aligning with evolving regulatory expectations in the EU and Ireland

Ensuring that staff understand how to work alongside AI, not as a replacement, but as a complement, will be essential. As the technology becomes more sophisticated, the need for clear accountability, auditability, and human oversight will only intensify.

The rise of the “citizen developer”

One of the most transformative enablers of AI adoption is the emergence of the citizen developer: employees without coding backgrounds who can build, customise, and deploy applications using intuitive AI‑powered tools.

Platforms such as Figma, low‑code environments, and no‑code workflow builders are increasingly embedding AI directly into their interfaces, empowering business users to ideate and iterate rapidly.

For Irish banks, where operational complexity and legacy systems can slow innovation, citizen development presents a significant opportunity. It enables business teams, in partnership with technology functions, to co‑create new services, automate workflows, and experiment with AI-driven solutions.

This approach shortens development cycles, reduces pressure on IT resources, and encourages a more collaborative, innovation‑led culture across the organisation.

Finding the balance to win

Banking remains one of the leading sectors globally for AI adoption. But as the industry enters this next phase, success will be measured not by isolated pilots but by an institution’s ability to orchestrate AI across the enterprise.

This means ensuring customers can trust AI‑driven services, establishing responsible governance, and reimagining workforce roles to make the most of human expertise alongside intelligent systems.

Those that strike the right balance will be best positioned to deliver personalised, intelligent banking at scale—driving stronger performance, deeper engagement, and long‑term competitive advantage.

The banking industry is at the forefront of AI adoption, moving beyond chatbots to agentic AI that supports complex financial decisions and delivers highly individualised customer journeys. The next phase of this evolution, however, hinges on integrating human expertise with AI, fostering the rise of the 'citizen developer,' and orchestrating AI across the enterprise to build customer trust and deliver personalised, intelligent banking at scale.

Martin Herbert

Global Lead, Applied AI

KPMG International