Cut the “nonsense” out and AI has potential.
A recent Gartner report pointed out that finance organizations were slow in their roll in deploying artificial intelligence in the workplace.
The November, 2023 study of over 200 finance realm execs and managers indicated that 61% of finance functions “either have no plans for AI implementation or are still in the initial planning phase”. Additionally, just 9% of finance organizations are in the scaling and using phases, compared to 20% of other administrative support functions, such as HR, legal, real estate, IT, and procurement, Gartner reports.
“Despite AI’s potential, most finance functions’ AI implementations have remained limited,” said Marco Steecker, senior principal in the Gartner Finance Practice.
Now, it looks like CFOs and other executive decision-makers may have been prescient in holding back AI rollouts – at least that’s the opinion of one major banking CEO.
Speaking at a University of Waterloo seminar in Toronto, Canada last week, RBC CEO Dave McKay says that while the technology has potential, AI has a long way to go before corporate decision-makers can trust it.
AI still has too many errors and “hallucinations” or nonsense answers to be relied on in banking services, McKay indicated in his speech, as reported by Bloomberg. “It’s an incredible technology that’s going to transform our business, that’s not ready for prime time.”
Slow Your Roll
McKay said that RBC does use AI for tasks like writing code and to help company sales teams better understand complicated bank tools they need to be selling. Also, Aiden, RBC’s AI-fueled trading platform has outclassed human traders in its five years of existence, the CEO noted.
So what’s McKay’s main beef with AI in finance? Aside from those hallucinations and nonsense, McKay says trust and security are the primary concerns with AI right now, and that financial institutions will have to vet AI algorithms before they can trust the technology with their own data.
“We’re going to reinvent our society yet again, and that’s going to be a threat and that’s creating fear, fear of change,” McKay said. “(With AI), we are not in control of our change journey, we don’t have a plan. It’s just a matter of getting at it, and going through that process.”
Once that major task is accomplished, McKay expects AI to be a long-term boon for financial organizations.
“AI teaches itself,” he added. “It’s gone through all the volatility of the markets, and recent volatility, and continues to outperform. So the machine can work, teach itself to adjust to complex environments very, very well.”

Brian O’Connell, a former Wall Street bond trader and best-selling author, is a prominent figure in the finance industry. With a substantial background as an ex-Wall Street trader, he has authored two best-selling books: ‘The 401k Millionaire’ and ‘CNBC’s Creating Wealth’, demonstrating his profound knowledge of finance and investing.
Brian is also a finance and business writer for esteemed national platforms and publications, including CNN, TheStreet.com, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, and Fox News.