Finance in AX
Banking rides the AI wave, undergoing a 'Great Transformation' in organization and services

[비즈한국] The financial industry has entered a massive wave of change known as AI Transformation (AX). Adopting AI in core sectors—such as data analysis, risk management, and asset management—is no longer a choice but a critical task for survival. As the rapid evolution of generative AI meets proactive government policy support, financial companies are going beyond mere Digital Transformation (DX) to reshape their business processes, organizational structures, and service strategies around AI. This report explores the flow of AI transformation in the financial sector and identifies the direction of the industry’s AI-led future through sectoral strategies and practical use cases.

AI Transformation (AX) refers to shifting business practices to be AI-centered, combining data and AI to maximize efficiency and create a system where humans and AI collaborate. While the past focused on Digital Transformation (DX), which involved the digitalization and automation of general tasks, AX takes it a step further by entrusting AI with decision-making, business strategy, and execution.

The financial industry began seriously discussing AX in early 2025. As generative AI evolved rapidly and the pace of AI adoption accelerated across industries, financial companies began developing their own AI platforms and language models, or implementing employee training at the enterprise level. In 2026, major financial firms have collectively set AX acceleration as their new year's strategy and are picking up the pace of execution.

The direction of AX in financial firms is largely divided into internal utilization and B2C service application. Internal utilization involves using AI in employee workflows and building proprietary AI technologies and data. B2C services apply AI technology to customer support, product recommendation and development, marketing, and fraud detection. Financial firms develop their own language models or AI tools primarily to minimize security risks. Because business and internet networks are separated to prevent external hacking and internal information leakage, the use of AI tools is limited, and the nature of financial data—which is rich in sensitive information—also places constraints on AI training.

Government policy has also contributed to accelerating AX in the financial sector. The Presidential Committee on the Age of Artificial Intelligence stated in the 'Republic of Korea AI Action Plan (2026–2028)' that "as the financial industry's reliance on data-driven decision-making increases, the scope of AI usage is expanding into risk management, asset allocation, and customer experience improvement," adding that "the core task is to consistently refine data, infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks so that the financial sector can have the foundation to train, verify, and operate AI whenever necessary."

Financial authorities have stepped up with infrastructure and data support and regulatory reforms to implement the national agenda of a "Financial Sector AI Great Transformation." The Financial Services Commission (FSC) is set to establish 'AI Guidelines for the Financial Industry' by the first quarter of this year, and 'Support Measures for Vitalizing AI Utilization in the Financial Sector' for AI internalization and service innovation across the industry by the second quarter. Furthermore, the 'Financial AI Platform' was launched in December 2025 to support the development and verification of AI financial services by financial firms and fintech companies, and the 'Everyone’s Financial AI Learning Platform' was opened last January to assist financial consumers in utilizing AI.

Major financial holding companies (KB Kookmin, NH Nonghyup, Shinhan, Woori, and Hana) are pushing for group-wide AX, backed by massive capital and human resources. They establish dedicated AX organizations, create synergies among group subsidiaries by sharing AI technology, and build infrastructure that the entire group can utilize through their IT subsidiaries. Key subsidiaries are introducing services equipped with AI technology and applying AI agents to overall business operations.

KB Financial Group105560 launched the 'KB GenAI Portal,' the industry's first group-shared generative AI platform, in May 2025. Through this, the holding company and its eight subsidiaries are developing AI agents. KB Financial has also set a plan to introduce around 90 AI agents across 17 major business areas of the group within the next three years. KB Financial designated its 2026 group management strategy as 'Transformation and Expansion' and initiated organizational restructuring, integrating the departments responsible for group strategy, AI, and digital innovation into the 'Future Strategy Division.' The goal is to establish a strategy that encompasses both face-to-face and non-face-to-face channels in line with the full-scale implementation of AX.

Hana Financial Group also focused on AI transformation and digital innovation during its 2026 organizational restructuring. Hana Financial created the 'New Business & Future Value Division' and established the 'New Business & Digital Headquarters' by reorganizing the AI/Digital Strategy Headquarters, placing emphasis on both digital innovation and consumer protection. For AI technology development, the Hana Financial Convergence Institute, an organization dedicated to AI R&D, is in charge. The institute applies research results to all group subsidiaries and promotes digital transformation across the entire group.

Shinhan Financial Group selected 'AX Innovation Leaders' last January, key personnel who will drive AX in the field within the group. Composed of 100 working-level staff from major subsidiaries, they use in-house data and unstructured data platforms to design and develop AI agents that can be immediately used in business tasks. In addition to nurturing these leaders, Shinhan Financial runs AI competency enhancement programs for general employees. The group has set a goal to cultivate 1,000 AX experts over the next three years.

Woori Financial Group launched an 'AX Promotion Committee' directly under the Chairman in July 2025 to discuss group-wide AX tasks. The committee includes Chairman Yim Jong-yong, representatives of subsidiaries (bank, card, capital, securities, insurance), and strategy executives. Furthermore, they established a 'Group AX Master Plan' and a roadmap to implement 344 use cases by 2027, including 200 in banking and 144 in non-banking sectors. By accumulating cases where AI technology is applied to business tasks, they are normalizing AI-based management systems and accelerating the transformation of business processes.

NH Nonghyup Financial Group recently held the '2026 NH Nonghyup Financial AX/DX Chief Council,' attended by digital chiefs from all subsidiaries and NH Nonghyup Financial Group Chairman Lee Chan-woo. The council discussed checking progress on tasks such as AX acceleration and strengthening super-platform competitiveness, as well as redesigning business processes for AX and establishing an 'AI-Readable' system.