An Early-Adopters Guide to AI Agents for Financial Services

Artificial intelligence (AI) agents are set to bring significant disruption to financial services in 2025. According to Gartner’s top tech trends, agentic AI is the one to watch. And for good reason—these autonomous, decision-making AI systems are transforming financial operations in ways that were not previously possible. Let’s explore AI agents for financial services in more detail.

Related: Introduction to AI Agents

From automating intricate compliance workflows to enhancing risk analysis and fraud detection, agentic AI is an ideal fit for financial services companies. These intelligent agents do more than just process vast amounts of data—they act, adapt, and optimise in real time. This makes financial services brands more agile, efficient, and competitive.

But with all the buzz around AI, it’s easy for financial services leaders to get caught up in the noise. The key is to cut through the hype and understand how agentic AI can drive real, measurable impact—from hyper-personalised customer experiences to smarter, faster decision-making at scale. 

The Business Case for AI Agents for Financial Services

Let’s explore where AI agents are making the biggest impact in financial services companies.

✔️ Increased Efficiency

Automating repetitive tasks that have some degree of variability frees up human employees to focus on high-value activities like client relationships and strategic planning.

✔️ Enhanced Customer Experience

AI-driven personalisation can build trust, offering customers tailored financial recommendations in real-time.

✔️ Improved Accuracy

AI agents continuously learn and refine their models and, when applied correctly, can exceed human accuracy in many areas. With appropriate human supervision, this can minimise human errors in data analysis, risk assessment, and decision-making.

✔️ Scalability

AI agents handle high-volume transactions effortlessly and can adapt to growing customer demands at a fraction of the increase in operational costs.

Core Functions of Agentic AI in Financial Services 

1. Data Collection and Analysis

AI agents aggregate, cleanse, and analyse data from multiple sources and deliver accurate insights and predictions. This allows financial services companies to make informed decisions and stay ahead of market trends.

2. Process Automation and Optimisation

By automating workflows with the ability to handle anomalies, AI agents cut operational costs and improve efficiency, which ensures quicker turnaround of tasks.

3. Decision-Making and Execution

Artificial intelligence agents process vast amounts of data, apply rules, and execute predefined models. When implemented with appropriate traceability, their ability to document decision-making fosters transparency and trust.

4. Collaboration and Communication

These systems can support the work of human teams, offering insights, feedback, and recommendations that enhance strategic decision-making.

Key Finance Sectors that Benefit from AI Agents

Here’s a closer look at how AI agents can be applied in banking, insurance, and wealth management.

Insurance: Smarter Claims Processing and Fraud Prevention

AI agents can automate claims, improve risk assessment, and detect fraud—all of which leads to faster servicing and enhanced customer trust.

✅ Streamlines Claims Processing with Real-Time Data Access
AI agents collect and analyse policyholder data, claim forms, and supporting documents, verifying information and flagging potential discrepancies. This reduces claim approval times, speeding up payouts for policyholders.

✅ Detects Fraud Risks by Analysing Patterns in Insurance Claims
Insurance fraud costs billions annually. AI agents compare claims against historical data, identifying suspicious activity such as inflated claims, duplicate submissions, and staged accidents. This proactive approach saves insurers millions in fraudulent payouts.

✅ Assists in Policy Pricing by Assessing Risk Factors Dynamically
Traditional insurance pricing relies on static factors, but AI agents continuously update risk models using real-time data. By analysing driving behaviour (for auto insurance), health records (for life insurance), and environmental risks (for property insurance), AI agents ensure fairer, more accurate pricing.

✅ Provides AI-Powered Customer Support & Policy Recommendations
Agents guide customers through policy selection, answering questions about coverage, deductibles, and premiums. They also suggest policy adjustments based on lifestyle changes, claim history, and risk factors, ensuring customers get the best coverage.

✅ Automates Underwriting and Risk Assessment
By integrating with external data sources, AI agents evaluate new applicants faster and more accurately than traditional underwriting processes. They analyse medical records, credit scores, and lifestyle data, helping insurers approve policies quickly while managing risk effectively.

The Impact

AI agents reduce claims processing times, lower fraud, and make policy pricing more dynamic, creating a more efficient and customer-friendly insurance industry.

Banking: Faster, Smarter, and More Secure Services

Agentic AI streamlines banking operations, reduces manual processes, and offers customers faster, more personalised experiences.

✅ Automates Account Setup and Customer Onboarding
AI-powered digital assistants guide customers through the account creation process, verifying identities, collecting required documents, and ensuring compliance with regulations—reducing onboarding time from days to minutes.

✅ Evaluates Credit Scores and Loan Eligibility
AI agents go beyond traditional credit scoring. They analyse transaction history, spending behaviour, income patterns, and alternative data sources to offer fairer, more accurate loan assessments. This improves financial inclusion, and allows underserved customers to access credit.

✅ Provides Personalised Financial Guidance Based on Customer History
Using machine learning and predictive analytics, AI agents analyse past financial behaviour to offer tailored banking advice, budgeting suggestions, and product recommendations. They proactively alert customers about spending habits, savings opportunities, and potential financial risks.

✅ Detects and Prevents Fraud in Real Time
AI agents continuously monitor transactions to identify unusual activity or fraudulent behaviour. With real-time alerts and automated security measures, banks can prevent fraud before it happens, reducing financial losses.

✅ Enhances Customer Support with AI-Powered Chatbots
AI-driven chatbots handle routine banking queries 24/7, such as balance inquiries, transaction disputes, and service requests. This reduces call centre workloads and improves response times.

✅ Optimises Risk Management and Regulatory Compliance
AI agents scan regulatory changes, automate compliance checks, and generate reports, ensuring banks meet strict financial regulations while reducing human error.

The Impact

Banks use AI agents to experience higher operational efficiency, reduce fraud, and improve customer satisfaction, making them more competitive in the digital age.

Wealth Management: AI-Powered Investing & Portfolio Optimisation

AI agents are redefining wealth management by providing automated financial insights, predictive analytics, and personalised investment strategies. This makes wealth management more accessible and data-driven.

✅ Offers Custom Investment Advice Based on Financial Goals
AI agents assess risk tolerance, income, spending habits, and long-term financial goals to provide tailored investment recommendations. They help clients choose between stocks, bonds, ETFs, and alternative assets based on their unique financial profiles.

✅ Automates Portfolio Management and Trade Execution
AI-driven robo-advisors continuously monitor market conditions and rebalance portfolios automatically to maintain the desired asset allocation. This eliminates the need for manual intervention while ensuring investments stay aligned with client goals.

✅ Continuously Refines Investment Strategies Using Machine Learning
AI agents track financial news, stock performance, and global economic trends, adjusting investment strategies in real time. By identifying emerging market opportunities and potential risks, they provide more adaptive and profitable investment plans.

✅ Enhances High-Net-Worth & Retail Investing with AI-Driven Insights
Wealth managers use AI agents to analyse vast financial datasets, identifying trends that might be overlooked by human analysts. This gives financial advisors an edge in decision-making, helping clients grow and protect their wealth.

✅ Improves Risk Assessment for Smarter Investing
Agentic AI simulates market scenarios and stress-test portfolios to predict how different investments will perform under varying economic conditions. This enables better risk management and informed financial planning.

The Impact

AI-driven wealth management increases accessibility, reduces costs, and improves investment decision-making. This way, both high-net-worth and retail investors benefit from intelligent, data-driven financial planning.

AI Agents: Promise, Practicality, and Pitfalls

As financial services organisations unlock the benefits of agentic AI, it’s clear that AI agents offer immense transformative potential.

But the real impact lies not in the hype, but in the execution. Reliability, seamless integration, and domain-specific application remain key hurdles. Without the right oversight, proper model training, and carefully chosen use cases, AI agents risk underdelivering on their promise.

It is critical to ensure these systems are not only technically sound, but also fit for purpose, designed to align with the unique workflows, regulatory requirements, and risk profiles of the financial sector. In an increasingly crowded AI marketplace, success will belong to those who pair innovation with precision, and who prioritise practical implementation over hype.

Saratoga is Your Industry and Agentic AI Expert

With a wealth of financial services experience, and a depth of AI expertise, we are trusted to consistently deliver tailored solutions that keep leading brands ahead of the curve.

Ready to see how agentic AI can streamline and supplement your operations?

Contact Saratoga and take full advantage of the efficiencies of AI today.