Payments organisations have accelerated their artificial intelligence strategies this quarter, following the appointment of dedicated AI leads across multiple institutions. The move reflects growing recognition that AI capability now spans fraud management, customer experience, operations, compliance and decision support — and that responsibility for these capabilities requires clear ownership, or at least someone to point to.
One executive described the appointment as a turning point. "This gives us accountability," they said. "AI now has a seat at the table."
The table includes representatives from technology, risk, legal, data, compliance, architecture and brand.
AI joined via video link.
Early Priorities
Early priorities such as defining use cases, establishing governance frameworks and agreeing responsible adoption principles were largely completed during 2025. They are now being done again.
Several leaders noted that frameworks signed off last year are already out of date, as models, tooling and operating assumptions continue to evolve faster than approval cycles, funding committees and risk workshops.
Governance is now being refreshed, with the assistance of AI.
Delivering Value
Several firms confirmed AI is already delivering value through summarisation, note-taking, document review, workflow support and the re-drafting of internal communications to sound more confident.
Decision-making remains unchanged.
"We are using AI to remove friction from the process of discussing AI. It's a meaningful step."
With agentic AI now firmly in production across several institutions, attention has shifted to identifying the next phase of capability. Multiple organisations confirmed active exploration of new concepts, including adaptive agents, autonomous orchestration, self-improving workflows and AI-native operating models.
The concepts are broadly understood. The terminology is not.
Teams are currently aligning on the next term to rally around. Once agreed, roadmaps will be updated, steering committees reconvened and governance frameworks refreshed for a third time.
The new term is expected to feature prominently at conferences scheduled for Q3 2026.
The Chief AI Officer
A number of organisations have gone further, appointing Chief AI Officers with enterprise-wide remit. The role, described variously as "strategic", "cross-functional" and "critical to our AI-first ambition", typically reports to the Chief Technology Officer, the Chief Data Officer, or in one documented case, the Chief Marketing Officer.
The Chief AI Officers confirmed they are still defining the scope of their role. A working group has been established. It includes AI.
