Vixio Report: 65% of Compliance Leaders Distrust Generic AI for Regulatory Decisions

Vixio has released new research identifying a critical trust deficit preventing financial institutions from fully automating regulatory compliance. For fintech professionals, the findings highlight that while AI adoption is mandated at the board level, a majority of compliance leaders remain deeply skeptical of using generic AI tools for audit-ready decision-making.

What was announced

Vixio published its latest research report, The State of AI Trust in Regulatory Compliance 2026, which draws on qualitative interviews with legal, risk, and compliance executives across retail banking, payment providers, and gambling operators. The report reveals that while 53% of compliance teams currently use AI for basic tasks - such as monitoring regulatory changes and assessing impact - there is a hard boundary regarding how much autonomy these tools are granted.

The research identifies significant friction points that prevent AI from moving beyond a "research assistant" role. Specifically, 65% of compliance leaders expressed distrust in generic, open-web AI tools for regulatory decision-making. The primary concern, cited by 59% of respondents, is the risk of "hallucinations," where models authoritatively state incorrect regulatory interpretations. This creates an unacceptable audit risk for firms that must defend their compliance choices to regulators.

To mitigate these risks, 56% of organizations enforce a mandatory human checkpoint before any AI output is utilized. The report concludes that for AI to be considered viable for high-stakes compliance tasks, it must be built on four foundations: the use of verified data, direct sourcing of information, human-in-the-loop review processes, and the maintenance of clear activity logs for defensibility.

"This report makes one thing clear: in regulated industries, speed without trust is a risk no company can afford. Compliance leaders shouldn't have to choose between AI efficiency and defensible accuracy. This research names the trust gap at the heart of the market, and at Vixio we're evolving our platform in lockstep with our clients to turn regulatory ambiguity into trust, so compliance can say yes with confidence."

Christian Erlandson, Executive Chair & CEO, Vixio

The companies involved

Vixio functions as a central provider of regulatory intelligence and compliance solutions, specifically targeting high-stakes sectors including payments, banking, and gambling. The company positions itself as a "single source of regulatory truth," offering a unified Regulatory Change Management platform designed to help firms move from reactive compliance to proactive strategy. Its service model is built on three pillars: analyst-curated expertise, operational enablement to remove growth bottlenecks, and evidence-based reporting to ensure board-level defensibility.

The organization operates in a market where accuracy is paramount, competing by providing foresight that combines human analysis with technological efficiency. Also operating in this space is Compliance Online LTD. Within Vixio, the content strategy is led by Kat Pilkington, Head of Content. The company’s leadership, including Christian Erlandson, focuses on bridging the gap between raw regulatory intelligence and the practical execution required by global financial institutions to maintain their licenses and avoid punitive fines.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has tracked Vixio’s consistent growth and recognition within the RegTech space. In early 2025, the company received significant industry accolades, including being named Best RegTech Solution at the mpe Awards 2025 and seeing its Regulatory Intelligence Team crowned Paytech Team of the Year 2025. Beyond awards, Vixio has been active in product innovation, notably with the launch of Vixio Workspace, a tool designed to transform how firms manage regulatory changes. Our previous coverage also highlighted Vixio’s data-driven insights into the cost of non-compliance, such as their report finding over €36m in AML fines issued in Europe within a single year.

What this means

This announcement highlights a growing tension in the fintech industry: the clash between the corporate urge for AI-driven efficiency and the rigid requirements of regulatory liability. The fact that over half of compliance leaders still insist on human checkpoints suggests that generic LLMs are currently failing the "audit test." This puts immense pressure on generalist AI providers who lack specialized, verified datasets. For the broader market, it signals that the next phase of RegTech will not be defined by how fast an AI can read a regulation, but by how transparently it can prove its reasoning. The industry is moving toward a "trust-but-verify" model where the human professional remains the ultimate arbiter of legal risk.