Cloud Trumps AI As Business Priority For Financial Services Firms In 2024

Synechron, a leading global digital transformation consulting firm, today unveiled research insights generated from its first Strategic Technologies Survey of 50 C-Suite technology decision makers (Chief Technology Officers, Chief Information Officers, and Chief Data Officers) from the financial services industry across the United States, Europe and Rest of World (RoW). The survey focused on tech priorities and approach to investment in technology provision. Some emerging trends were identifiable from the survey results:

• Cloud computing dominates – 42% of respondents identified cloud computing and application modernization as their top priority with almost half (46%) at the stage where they were implementing solutions. An additional 18% were even further ahead having reached the stage where they were optimizing their cloud technology.
• Cautious adoption of AI – Whilst AI dominates headlines, it seems that key decision makers are taking their time to fully explore the full potential – and risks – of this burgeoning technology across security, compliance and legal angles. A notable 58% said they were still exploring the ways in which AI could transform their business compared to just 6% stating they were at the stage where they were optimizing post-rollout. As the different applications for AI are still being mapped out, only 1 in 10 picked AI as a business priority for 2024.
• Cybersecurity & Data Intelligence/Analytics ranked equally – Cybersecurity, as well as Data Intelligence & Analytics, tied for second place as priorities – each with a 24% share of respondents. This highlights the increasing importance of data security in the digital age and the role of technology in safeguarding digital assets. It also confirms the trend towards data-driven decision making and monetization of data assets.
• Investment overall remains steady – Despite recent economic fluctuations, many businesses said they were maintaining or increasing their investment in technology provision. More than half of the respondents (51%) reported their technology budget has remained the same, whilst almost 35% reported an increase.

Further trends uncovered by the Synechron survey research included nearly one in four firms (24%) exploring methods of data monetization – defined as creating value from a firm’s data assets – with another 64% either developing or already implementing a program in this area. As data-driven strategies continue to transform and redefine entire industries, the value of data has soared. North American financial services firms are ahead of their European and RoW counterparts in this area – only 8% in the United States were at the exploration phase compared to 16% in Europe and RoW. David Sewell, Chief Technology Officer at Synechron, commented, “The results of our survey were surprising at times, given what we have been hearing on the ground from clients and contacts across the global financial services industry. For example, despite 85% of respondents claiming budgets were maintained or increasing, anecdotally we have observed some pressure on client budgets towards the end of 2023.” He added, “Senior tech staff attitudes towards AI were also notably cautious - although the excitement and buzz around this technology continues at pace across the industry. Currently, customer service is the main area where businesses can see AI making an impact, particularly in Europe. With AI and GenAI solutions advancing at an increasing velocity, we expect to see adoption grow significantly in a relatively short space of time.”