Artificial intelligence is now in use across most of the global financial sector, with implications for Australian insurers reviewing technology, workforce, and security plans for 2026. Finastra’s Financial Services State of the Nation 2026 report found that only 2% of financial institutions surveyed had not deployed AI in any form. In the same survey, 43% of respondents identified AI as their main route for introducing new or improved products and processes.
Risk management, fraud detection, data analytics, and reporting were the most frequently cited uses of AI, each nominated by 71% of respondents. The findings indicate that AI is being applied in core control and decision-support functions as well as in specialist projects. Customer-facing activities are another key area of deployment. According to the report, 69% of institutions use AI to support customer service teams or to manage documents and related workflows. In Australia, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has adopted AI tools for its customer service operations, illustrating how large banks are incorporating automation into frontline channels.
Customer expectations are influencing how financial institutions design and expand AI programs. About 38% of Finastra’s respondents said their customers’ main request is for more personalised interactions and improved service. Only 4% reported that they do not offer any level of personalisation, suggesting that tailored experiences are now common across the sector. Over the past 12 months, six in 10 firms said they have upgraded or broadened their AI capabilities. According to the report, cited by cyberdaily, institutions are expanding AI use while seeking to manage security, compliance, and profitability across functions such as customer engagement, lending, and payments.
Survey participants also reported a relatively positive outlook on AI’s business impact. Finastra said 87% of respondents expected AI to create opportunities for them personally, while 86% expected a favourable business outlook for their organisations, including further spending on technology and partnerships. Security budgets are rising alongside this activity. As AI is deployed more deeply in critical processes, financial institutions surveyed said they plan to increase security investment by an average of 40% this year, citing concerns about cyber risk, data protection, and operational resilience.
In the insurance sector, new research from Accenture shows that organisations intend to lift AI spending even as they report skills and integration constraints. Accenture’s Pulse of Change survey, carried out between November and December 2025 across 20 industries and 20 countries, included 218 senior insurance executives within a wider group of 3,650 C-suite leaders. Ninety percent of the insurance executives surveyed said they plan to increase AI spending in 2026. Most of these executives view AI mainly as a way to support revenue growth. Eighty-five percent said they see greater benefit from AI in driving growth than in reducing costs. For Australian insurers, that emphasis points to use cases in product development, distribution, and customer engagement, in addition to efficiency gains.
At the same time, the survey highlighted capability and organisational barriers. A quarter of insurance executives cited shortages of skilled talent as the main factor limiting value from AI, and 24% identified weak alignment between AI initiatives and core business strategy as a primary constraint. Despite these findings, relatively few organisations reported structural changes to support AI use. Only 24% said they have embedded continuous learning programs focused on AI, and just 5% said they are redesigning job roles to reflect new ways of working with AI tools.
Accenture’s research indicates that insurers are moving beyond small-scale pilots. Thirty-four percent of respondents said their organisations are deploying AI agents across multiple business functions. Nearly one-third of insurance C-suite leaders reported using generative AI tools every day, and 57% said they use such tools at least once a week. In addition, 29% of businesses said they are redesigning end-to-end processes with AI integrated into key steps. For insurers, this may involve areas such as underwriting workflows, claims handling, fraud checks, back-office processing, and internal support.
The survey also examined how executives might respond to a potential correction in AI-related valuations. If an AI “bubble” were to burst, 47% of insurance respondents said they would increase their AI investment and 37% said they would increase hiring, indicating that many expect AI-related work to continue regardless of market cycles. Two-thirds of executives reported that they are prioritising AI and other digital technologies in response to ongoing changes in their operating environment. While 67% said they feel prepared for technology disruption, fewer reported feeling prepared for environmental disruption (39%) or geopolitical disruption (44%).
Although 84% of respondents expect more change in 2026 than in 2025, the survey results show that expectations for business performance remain firm. Seventy-eight percent anticipate faster revenue growth this year, and 82% plan to increase headcount. For Australian insurance professionals, the combined findings from Finastra and Accenture point to a sector where AI is becoming more integrated into core operations. The data also suggests that organisations will need to address talent shortages, strategy alignment, and security controls as adoption continues to scale.
