How are mid-sized banks actually using AI in compliance right now — and what's working?
Not looking for vendor pitches or think-pieces. Genuinely curious what's happening on the ground.
We work with financial institutions on AI adoption and one pattern keeps coming up — firms are cautiously experimenting with AI in compliance and ops, but most projects stall before they scale. The tech works in the demo, but falls apart when it hits real workflows, legacy systems, or regulatory scrutiny.
A few specific things I'd love to hear from people with direct experience:
Where has AI actually delivered measurable value in your FS org — compliance monitoring, trade surveillance, ops automation, something else?
What killed the pilots that didn't make it? Was it the tech, the governance, internal resistance, or something else?
How are your teams handling explainability when regulators ask questions about AI-driven decisions?
For context — we've seen the most traction in areas where there's a clear audit trail requirement baked in from day one, rather than bolted on after. But curious if others are finding different approaches.
No right answers here. Just trying to build a more honest picture of where the industry actually is vs where the headlines say it is.