Less than two out of every five CEOs in the financial services sector currently anticipate a significant decline in the coming year, despite the hype within generative machine learning and artificial intelligence continuing to boost economic sentiment throughout Europe. In spite of this, CEOs are pushing ahead with AI investments; currently, over 90% of them have included the technology in their financial allocation for the upcoming year.
Many of the biggest economies in the world faced a dismal economic future at the start of 2023. The economy was growing at a snail’s pace due to excessive inflation, which also severely reduced the ability of consumers to spend and made the ordinary household in the UK hundreds of pounds worse off.
But a lot has happened since then, chief among them being the intense hysteria surrounding AI. CEOs thought that an additional industrial revolution was imminent because of the burgeoning interest in platforms like ChatGPT and their algorithms for artificially generated content, which included articles, music files, animations, and images. They thought that these platforms could help realize cost savings while also producing exponential increases in productivity.
As the year has gone on, inflation has decreased somewhat, though it is still high, and strong labor markets have supported consumer demand, causing the global economy to slow down more gradually than initially anticipated.
Due to this and the growing expectations surrounding generative AI, business trust has increased significantly, especially in the financial industry. According to an EY survey conducted earlier in the year, 49% of CEOs in the European financial services industry anticipated a significant decline in the near future; today, that number is down to 32%.
In a study conducted by EY, less than 100 CEOs in the European financial services sector were asked about their investment ambitions, headline worries, and strategic goals. All things considered, the researchers discovered that they were swiftly modifying their investment plans to optimize the advantages that artificial intelligence may offer to their companies.
Even though many businesses are still unsure about the precise material nature of such benefits, leaders are willing to put their confidence in the invention.