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The financial services industry is being reshaped by agentic AI — unlocking new ways to deliver seamless customer experiences, empower frontline teams, and automate complex processes from end to end.
At a recent panel moderated by Peter Berbee, SVP of Financial Services at Kore.ai, industry leaders Corey Thomson, EVP and Head of Digital at Mashreq Bank, and Kellen McClain, Product Manager at Vanguard, shared firsthand stories and lessons learned from their AI transformations — offering a real-world look at how AI is driving the next generation of banking and wealth management.
Bringing AI to life: a demonstration of mortgage automation
Ale Fiallo, Director of Sales Engineering at Kore.ai, kicked off the session with a live demonstration of Kore.ai’s mortgage agentic app — a powerful orchestration of specialized AI agents working seamlessly to automate and optimize the entire mortgage application process.
From identity verification to asset and liability capture, document handling, and instant pre-approval letter generation, Ale showed how the platform’s “supervisor agent” intelligently selects and delegates tasks to purpose-built agents. This results in a dramatically faster, more efficient mortgage journey — compressed from hours on the phone to just five minutes online.
AI for Service at scale: insights from Mashreq Bank
Corey Thomson shared how Mashreq has invested deeply in AI-powered chatbots to scale service across their growing digital footprint. Their banking platform supports upwards of 1.5 to 2 million conversations annually, achieving an impressive 95% intent recognition and 85% containment rate.
“Our chatbot is more than a transactional tool,” Corey explained. “It’s a platform that understands context — whether you engage via mobile app, chatbot, or voice — and delivers personalized, seamless service at scale.”
Internally, Mashreq is exploring ways to extend AI beyond customer-facing functions to empower employees, leveraging large language models to assess and enhance engineering productivity and quality.
Yet challenges remain, from navigating diverse regulatory frameworks across markets to overcoming skepticism rooted in past chatbot missteps. “Building trust is paramount,” Corey emphasized. “Your assistant needs to be comprehensive and reliable from day one, or customers simply won’t come back.”
Vanguard’s journey: optimizing contact centers and exploring generative AI
Kellen McClain outlined Vanguard’s focus on reducing contact center calls and handle time through AI-driven call summarization and self-service bots. Early adoption has already resulted in thousands of calls summarized, freeing frontline staff to focus on higher-value tasks.
A Vanguard frontline employee shared, “I didn’t realize I needed this until I had it — now I can’t imagine doing my job without it.”
Looking ahead, Vanguard is focused on mastering complex intent detection and adopting generative AI to deliver more conversational, dynamic client experiences — all while meeting the strict governance standards of the financial industry.
Overcoming obstacles: data, governance, and mindset
Both leaders agreed that data privacy and compliance remain top challenges in deploying AI within financial services. Mashreq addresses this with a hybrid cloud approach tailored to regional regulations, while Vanguard focuses on refining governance to balance innovation with risk.
Mindset is another key hurdle—overcoming skepticism both internally and with customers about AI’s capabilities and preferred channels. Corey stressed the importance of ongoing testing and direct customer engagement to build trust in the technology.
Kellen echoed this, urging the need to challenge assumptions—like the idea that older clients won’t use chatbots—and emphasized that continuous testing and iteration are essential to gain momentum and unlock real value.
The road ahead: AI as a unified platform capability
Looking forward, the panelists envision AI moving from siloed projects into unified platforms that connect every customer touchpoint. From mobile apps to relationship managers and voice channels, all will be expected to deliver consistent, contextually aware service.
Corey summarized it here:
“Our goal is to embed AI deeply across the organization — to lift productivity, personalize customer journeys, and unlock new value.”
Kellen added:
“Scaling AI with confidence means balancing innovation with governance. Generative AI and agentic AI together will unlock new possibilities — and we’re ready to lead the way.”
If you’re ready to explore how agentic and generative AI can reshape your financial services business, Kore.ai is here to partner with you on that journey.
