Financial Leaders: How AI Transforms Compliance and Risk Management
Financial industry leaders are increasingly convinced that artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer optional but a necessity for navigating today’s complex regulatory environment and accelerated product development cycles. According to experts, the financial sector must embrace AI to remain competitive and compliant.
“In 2025, there is pretty much no compliance without AI, because compliance became exponentially harder,” said Alexander Statnikov, co-founder and CEO of Crosswise Risk Management.
Statnikov highlights that AI has become critical because of increased regulatory change management at the state level and speed of product development. Rather than two-year cycles, products now go from development to launch in weeks. This speed, combined with the complexities of banking as and managing third-party risks, necessitates AI for compliance success, he explained.
JPMorgan Chase is already realizing the benefits of AI in compliance and risk management. Terah Lyons, the bank’s managing director and global head of AI and data policy, noted that AI enhances operational efficiencies and reduces paperwork for both employees and regulators. A key application is fraud detection, where AI has dramatically reduced false positives, preventing legitimate transactions from being declined.
“That’s important from a customer experience perspective … because it means that there are fewer times our customers are having to make calls to try to make corrections,” Lyons said at this week’s HumanX conference.
Lyons elaborated that, in addition to internal benefits, AI also provides external regulatory advantages. JPMorgan collaborates with regulators who process large amounts of paperwork, and AI helps them operate more effectively. This benefits both the bank and regulators, leading to improved risk management and compliance in the industry, she said, adding:
“It supports a more effective, stable global system … enabling and supporting banks in that aspect of risk management.”
False positives pose a significant challenge not only in financial transactions but also in compliance work. Human workers may spend valuable time investigating cases they believe could be non-compliant, only to find that all was well. AI helps eliminate this waste by identifying these instances, enabling human reviewers to focus on genuine problems.
Anthony Soohoo, CEO of MoneyGram, observed that AI streamlines the compliance process, making it more efficient.
“You’re focusing on the true cases that really require compliance to get involved with,” Soohoo said. “From what we’ve seen so far, it’s made our compliance seem a lot more effective, and I think a lot more efficient.”
Soohoo also believes this benefits employee satisfaction by reducing tedious work. JPMorgan also utilizes a practical, small-scale approach to build organizational trust in AI, according to Lyons. Soohoo emphasized the need to modernize the compliance process, particularly the real-time monitoring AI provides, especially since it addresses the necessity to review every document carefully.
Looking ahead, both executives agree that AI’s capabilities will only improve, necessitating that companies adopt AI to remain competitive. Soohoo believes that organizations need to address automation in compliance and AI together, while Lyons sees effective risk management as a future competitive advantage.
“Customer trust is at the heart of all of that,” Lyons concluded.
