McKinsey Reports Banks are Poised to Gain Most from Agentic AI

McKinsey & Company has said banks are among the businesses best positioned to benefit from the rise of agentic AI, given the scale of their service operations and reliance on people-led processes.

The consultancy argues that banks are heavy users of service operations, where employees deliver tasks and services directly to customers, which makes them particularly exposed to the technology’s potential impact.

It estimates that between 50% and 60% of full-time equivalents in a typical bank are tied in some way to operations, marking it out as a prime area for AI-driven transformation after technology and engineering.

Unlike traditional AI or machine learning, agentic AI can run not only deterministic workflows but also manage less structured, more personalized tasks and one-off analyses. McKinsey says this flexibility makes it well-suited to the complexity of banking environments.

While a number of institutions are already deploying AI across parts of their operations, results remain at an early stage. Initial outcomes point to improvements in speed, cost, quality, and customer experience, though McKinsey noted it is too soon to declare widespread success.

McKinsey warns that slower adopters risk falling into what it describes as “pilot purgatory”,  where banks experiment with narrow use cases but fail to scale the technology across the organization.

To generate meaningful value, the firm says banks will need to rewire entire domains spanning operations, frontline distribution, technology, data science, and risk management, embedding AI at the core rather than treating it as a bolt-on solution.