Financial services is experiencing a decisive shift from AI experimentation to execution, with 94% of firms now piloting or deploying generative AI across core business functions including cybersecurity, pricing, and risk management. McKinsey reports that AI-mature institutions could reduce operating costs by up to 20% and warns that banks slow to operationalise AI risk missing out on approximately $170 billion in global profits.
Most financial institutions struggle to move AI from pilots to production due to fragmented data infrastructure. Databricks' Intelligence Platform unifies data across the enterprise with centralised governance through Unity Catalog, while Genie empowers business users to query data conversationally and build AI agents without code. This enables institutions to operationalise AI at scale—from real-time fraud detection and dynamic pricing to personalised customer engagement.
Watch the Virtual Financial Services Forum on-demand
Opening Keynote
Erin Butler, Vice-President Financial Services, Databricks
Explore why financial intelligence beats general intelligence in today's demanding market. While generic AI might be able to summarise the noise, it isn't enough to safely move capital or satisfy strict regulatory requirements. In this session, you will learn how industry leaders are moving beyond basic tools by unifying their data, deploying domain-trained models, and running agentic AI with firm governance controls.
Customer Keynote: Discovery Bank
Tom Emslie, Head of Data, Discovery Bank
Operating on a 'shared value' model, Discovery Bank aims to improve clients' financial behaviors to create mutual value and societal resilience. To deliver this at scale, the bank partners with Databricks to transform complex client data into governed, reusable behavioral profiles that power hyper-personalised 'next best actions' for financial wellness. This robust data foundation also drives their real-time 'trust' fraud protection system and supports Discovery AI, a generative AI interface that provides intuitive, conversational banking while empowering human staff. Watch this session to discover how Discovery Bank seamlessly combines predictive analytics, generative AI, and governed AI agents to deliver highly personalized, secure, and actionable financial services.
Business User Demo
Alasdair Anderson, Lead Solutions Architect Financial Services, Databricks
In this presentation, Alasdair Anderson explores how the Databricks platform empowers financial institutions to manage complex risks within commercial lending portfolios. By integrating diverse signals such as weather patterns, geopolitical events, and commodity prices, the system provides a unified real-time view of potential credit threats. Using a simulated agricultural crisis in Brazil, the source demonstrates how artificial intelligence can identify early warning indicators before defaults occur. This proactive approach allows businesses to move beyond simple data insights toward automated, actionable strategies tailored to individual clients. Ultimately, the platform facilitates hyper-personalized mitigation plans, such as loan restructuring, to protect both the lender's profitability and the customer's long-term viability.