Banks and insurance companies are more likely to work with suppliers to develop artificial intelligence (AI) agents than to develop them in-house.
Two-thirds of over 1,000 respondents from Capgemini Institute Global Cloud in Financial Services Report 2026 It said it is working with external partners on AI expertise and cloud-based platforms.
For example, health insurance provider Vitality recently deepened its relationship with Google through the launch of an AI platform designed to help millions of people make better-informed decisions about their health and lifestyle.
Meanwhile, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Japan’s largest bank, aims to transform into an AI-native company by leveraging agent AI, changing the way it handles data, and entering into key partnerships with OpenAI and Sakana AI.
Only 33% said they are actively developing their own AI agents. Almost half (49%) are using a combination of in-house development and supplier products, while only 15% are purchasing commercially available AI agents, according to the report.
Big growth ahead
Capgemini Research Institute estimates that AI agents could deliver up to $450 billion in economic value by 2028. Only 10% of banks and insurance companies are deploying AI agents at scale, but the opportunity is huge.
“80% of financial services companies are poised to deploy AI agents for rapid growth. [idea] “We are at the pilot stage of implementation,” the report said, “but significant opportunities remain to be opened.”
Ravi Kohar, Global Head of Cloud for Financial Services at Capgemini, said: “Our data reveals industry-wide optimism that the agent era will open the door to new markets, indicating that a new phase of transformation is on the horizon. To realize this potential, financial institutions need to take a long-term view of humans working alongside agents. This means separating reality from hype.”
Commenting on the report, Jørgen Olofsson, chief information officer at Euroclear Sweden, said: “AI agents offer financial institutions significant opportunities to automate repetitive tasks, improve customer and business support capabilities, and increase operational scalability.”
To date, the study found that 75% of banks use cloud-native AI agents for customer service, 64% for fraud detection, 64% for loan processing, and 59% for customer onboarding.
In the insurance industry, 70% use AI agents for customer service, 68% for underwriting, 65% for claims processing, and 58% for customer onboarding.
“AI is already delivering measurable improvements to the customer experience. From faster processing to more intuitive interactions, technology is reshaping how services are delivered and how customers interact with brands,” said Jesse Antosiewicz, senior director of technology at Liberty Mutual Insurance, who participated in the study.
“Agentic AI is gaining trust in customer-facing roles as enterprises tighten policies and governance,” said William Tong, senior vice president of business technology and payment services at Capital One, another survey respondent. “The opportunity lies in accelerating long processes such as customer, merchant, and partner onboarding, reducing cycle times, transforming efficiency, and improving the overall customer experience.”
AI babysitter
Despite the prevalence of AI, 92% of executives admit that business leaders lack relevant skills, and around half of banks and insurance companies have created an AI oversight role, the survey found. AI agent supervisor and coordinator roles are created by 48% of those interviewed.
In addition to creating supervisory roles for AI agents, 46% of banks and insurance companies are reskilling employees and redeploying them to different departments depending on their skill set.
Lloyd Scholz, chief technology officer at insurer Markel, said: “Maintaining human involvement remains important, especially in regulated environments. Trust, explainability and governance are key factors when deploying AI agents to ensure that automation supports human judgment rather than replacing it.”
