AI Use Surges Across Finnish Financial Sector as Regulator Warns of Growing Risks

Key Takeaways

• AI Adoption Accelerates: Of the 84 Finnish financial-sector entities surveyed by the FIN-FSA, 93% either use artificial intelligence or plan to introduce it within the next two years.
• Generative AI Use Climbs: Reported use of generative AI and general-purpose AI models rose from 74% to 90% over the past year, while AI agents emerged as a developing area of interest.
• Governance Practices Improve: The regulator found stronger AI governance and employee training across all company size categories, alongside improvements in monitoring and ensuring non-discrimination.
• High-Risk Applications Face Greater Scrutiny: The survey identified AI use cases classified as high-risk under the EU AI Act, which imposes additional requirements, including risk management obligations.
• Regulator Emphasizes Accountability: With AI investment expected to grow, the FIN-FSA stressed the importance of clearly defined responsibilities, system monitoring and demonstrable risk management.

Deep Dive

The use of generative artificial intelligence among Finnish financial institutions has climbed from 74% to 90% in a year, according to a regulatory survey that also found the technology moving further into customer-facing operations.

The Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) surveyed 84 financial-sector entities in spring 2026. Of those responding, 93% either use AI or plan to introduce it within the next two years. Investment is expected to increase further, even as institutions contend with the demands of supervising systems that are becoming a routine part of their operations.

The findings offer a measure of how quickly AI has taken hold in Finland's financial sector. They also reveal the work facing institutions as the technology spreads into more consequential applications, including those subject to heightened requirements under the European Union's AI Act.

“The use of artificial intelligence has become part of the everyday work of financial sector entities. As the utilisation of AI continues to increase, it is essential that companies take care of AI governance, define internal responsibilities and build up their competence,” said Jussi Terho, Head of Division at the FIN-FSA.

The regulator's annual survey, which updates a thematic review conducted in 2025, found particularly strong growth in generative AI and general-purpose models. Their reported use rose 16 percentage points over the year.

AI agents and agentic systems also appeared in the findings as an emerging development. The regulator expects their significance to increase, although it did not provide figures establishing how widely financial institutions have adopted them.

The spread of AI has not been confined to internal operations. The FIN-FSA reported increased use at the customer interface, bringing the technology into more direct contact with the people financial institutions serve.

The regulator did not identify which customer-facing applications accounted for the increase. Nor did it quantify the risks associated with those deployments. Its findings nevertheless put greater emphasis on the controls institutions maintain over individual AI applications, particularly where their use could produce discriminatory outcomes.

The survey found that AI governance practices and employee training had improved across all company size categories. Monitoring and measures intended to ensure non-discrimination had also strengthened across financial sectors.

Those improvements are notable given the speed of adoption. They do not, however, establish that institutions have eliminated the risks associated with their systems. The FIN-FSA continues to expect firms to identify risks arising from specific applications and ensure that their use does not produce discriminatory results.

The issue becomes more demanding for applications classified as high-risk under the EU AI Act. The survey identified high-risk use cases that financial institutions have already deployed or intend to develop. Such applications are not generally prohibited by the legislation, but they are subject to additional requirements, including obligations concerning risk management.

“Financial sector entities must be able to demonstrate that the use of artificial intelligence is based on good risk management. Particularly in high-risk use cases, clear responsibilities, monitoring of systems and ensuring non-discrimination are emphasised. In addition, AI systems must meet the requirements laid down in the EU AI Act,” Terho said.

The regulator's emphasis on clear responsibilities and continuing oversight reflects the practical demands of introducing AI into financial services. Institutions must understand the risks associated with the systems they use, determine who is accountable for their operation and maintain controls appropriate to their applications.

The survey suggests that firms have made progress in establishing those arrangements. Its findings on training and governance indicate that the organizational response to AI adoption has strengthened, even as new applications continue to emerge.

The pace of investment leaves little reason to expect that work to diminish. Financial institutions anticipate further spending on AI, while the appearance of agentic systems suggests that the range of applications under consideration is continuing to expand.

The regulator's next annual assessment will have a different starting point. Generative AI and general-purpose models are already in use among 90% of the surveyed entities, leaving relatively few respondents outside that category. Further growth will increasingly concern what institutions do with the technology, how much responsibility they assign to it and whether their controls remain adequate as its uses become more extensive.

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