[비즈한국] The financial industry has entered a massive wave of change known as Artificial Intelligence Transformation (AX). Adopting AI in core areas of finance, such as data analysis, risk management, and asset management, has emerged not as a choice, but as a task that determines survival. With the rapid advancement of generative AI technology combined with government policy support, financial companies are moving beyond simple digital transformation (DX) and restructuring their business processes, organizational structures, and service strategies to be AI-centric. We examine the flow of AI transformation in the financial sector and explore the direction of change in the financial industry driven by AI through strategies and application cases by sector.
Financial groups with securities and insurance firms as their core subsidiaries have also stepped up to respond to the AI era. Mirae Asset Group has pursued overseas investments and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to secure AI capabilities. In August 2023, it acquired 'Stockspot,' an Australian AI-based robo-advisor firm, through Mirae Asset Global Investments, and in 2024, it established 'WealthSpot,' an AI-specialized subsidiary, in New York, USA. WealthSpot, an AI-based investment solution provider, collaborated with Global X, a U.S. exchange-traded fund (ETF) subsidiary, in June 2025 to launch 'Global X Investment Grade Corporate Bond (GXIG)' ETF, the group's first AI-based product.
In October 2025, Mirae Asset Group announced 'Mirae Asset 3.0,' a new vision combining traditional finance with digital assets, and reflected its growth strategy of AI and digital into its organizational restructuring. Accordingly, Mirae Asset Securities006800 reorganized its Tech & AI division as a unit dedicated to new technologies. Mirae Asset Securities renamed its research center to 'AI Research Center' last March and is actively using AI for tasks such as news summarization and data aggregation.
Another major subsidiary, Mirae Asset Life Insurance085620, is also active in utilizing AI. Last February, it introduced 'M:AI,' an AI chatbot exclusive to its internal network, to improve workplace productivity. Additionally, it introduced an AI-based facial recognition system to enhance safety in non-face-to-face financial transactions.
Within Korea Investment Holdings, Korea Investment & Securities is at the forefront of AI adoption. Korea Investment & Securities has designated four key areas for AI utilization: AI Assistant, AI Trader, AI Private Banking (PB), and AI Foundation, and is discovering and pursuing internal and external tasks. In its Mobile Trading System (MTS), it offers investor-customized product recommendations via AI, and to strengthen PB capabilities, it provides global reports summarized and analyzed by AI. To improve internal work efficiency, it plans to introduce an AI assistant for sales coaching. Having its own open API (infrastructure opened so that data and services can be connected externally), Korea Investment & Securities has also embarked on the development of an AI trading agent.
Meritz Financial Group is adopting AI primarily in its securities and fire insurance divisions. Meritz Securities has set a goal to transform beyond a traditional securities firm into a future-type financial company that adopts new technologies like AI and the cloud. Meritz Securities has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and is preparing to launch an AI-based next-generation investment platform. The new investment platform is expected to be a global platform equipped with AI-based content, data, and community functions. Investors can obtain trends and investment information analyzed by AI on the platform, and directly exchange information or communicate with overseas investors through the U.S. investment community 'Stocktwits.' The platform features an AI-based translation function to facilitate smooth communication between investors.
Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance is active in applying AI, becoming the first among non-life insurers to introduce generative AI to insurance consultations. In November 2025, it signed a research agreement with KT to develop financial AI. The goal is for Meritz Fire & Marine to provide financial and insurance-related data for AI learning, while KT develops financial and insurance AI models that can be used for business through its AI technology. Along with AI model development, the two companies are conducting joint research in areas such as advancement of billing and medical document recognition technology for automated review, and AI-based data analysis and generation technology.
Daishin Financial Group recently partnered with SK AX to introduce agentic AI to Daishin Securities006800. SK AX will manage the overall IT operations of Daishin Securities for the next seven years and transform its IT operating system into an agentic AI system to prevent system failures and improve operational efficiency. Daishin Securities also introduced an AI service for individual investors. It launched the 'AI US Information at a Glance' menu in its MTS at the end of February. It is a service where AI translates and summarizes overseas corporate disclosures and investment news in real-time, introduced to bridge the time lag and language barriers that individual investors face in understanding global investment information.
Meanwhile, not only individual financial companies but also the Korea Exchange, which supports capital market infrastructure, has jumped into promoting AX. The Korea Exchange, which stated in January that it is "preparing for AI innovation with the recognition that AI technology is a core strategy determining the competitiveness of the entire Korean capital market," acquired 'FairLabs,' an AI-based data analysis startup, in February with the goal of advancing AI technology. Korea Exchange Chairman Jeong Eun-bo stated, "This is the first acquisition in the history of the Korea Exchange," and added, "We will expand various business strategies, including not only acquisitions to secure future growth engines but also new business discovery."