The inaugural AI in Banking Benchmark reveals that 89% of senior banking executives expect AI agents to work alongside humans within five years, while 84% have already embedded AI at the enterprise level. The survey gathered insights from 150 U.S. banking technology and business decision-makers in late March and early April 2026.

While 91% of respondents have defined AI strategies, only 21% are tying those investments directly to revenue growth and 26% to cost reduction. This gap indicates that many institutions are still moving from experimentation to demonstrating measurable business impact from AI initiatives.

Despite 87% of executives expressing confidence in data quality, 93% report at least one governance challenge, including siloed systems (52%), compromised integrity (41%), and inconsistent data (37%). A fully integrated, end-to-end AI solution is viewed by 94% as key to unlocking greater value.