Artificial intelligence in financial services has progressed from theoretical discussions to early real-world deployments, but fully autonomous transactions remain a distant prospect, according to Scarlett Sieber, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer at Money20/20.
In an interview with Invezz, Sieber noted that the industry has shifted its focus from exploring potential use cases to addressing the practical challenges of safe, scalable deployment across fragmented systems. She highlighted early examples of AI-driven transactions, including her own test of an assistant that reviewed her inbox for payment issues, but stressed that these are still in beta.
“We are already seeing real-time micro examples of transactions happening fully autonomously with AI, but it's not at any type of meaningful scale. I think we're probably still a few years away,” Sieber said. The financial sector cannot adopt autonomous systems as quickly as other industries because errors directly affect consumers' money and wealth, she added.
From chatbots to real use cases
The current wave of AI interest traces back to earlier experiments like Bank of America's Erica chatbot, which debuted at Money20/20 in 2015. Initial conversations centered on understanding the technology and estimating cost savings or revenue potential. Now, the dialogue has moved to responsible deployment and risk management.
“The conversation is okay, we now believe the AI use cases. Now how do we do it responsibly, how do we do it at scale,” Sieber said. At Money20/20's European event in June, the industry witnessed what she described as its first live commerce transaction using AI. The focus is now on preventing fraud and establishing guardrails.
Roughly 30% of submissions to speak at this year's Money20/20 US event included the words AI and fraud, indicating growing concern about security.
Interoperability and stablecoins
Sieber identified interoperability as a major weakness in the current financial system, particularly for cross-border transactions. “The interoperability piece is still a challenge. It's still an issue to move across countries and across financial institutions,” she said. She believes stablecoins could help bridge these gaps, pointing to a consortium of 21 financial institutions exploring a stablecoin company and the significance of using a public blockchain.
“I do see stablecoins being the most likely key piece to the interconnectedness for utilization,” Sieber said. Institutional interest in stablecoins is growing, and they are increasingly discussed alongside AI, payments, digital assets, and identity infrastructure. She noted that banks, payment companies, technology firms, and digital-asset businesses are now appearing in the same conversations at Money20/20 events.
Accountability and regulation
Sieber remains cautious about the timeline for autonomous finance. “We're far away from that from a financial services perspective,” she said. “I'd say we've got some good early examples, but it takes time, especially when you're dealing with people's wealth and money. It's going to be some time before we see any t...”
The path to scale depends on stronger interoperability, clearer accountability, and evidence that AI agents deliver tangible benefits to users. Regulatory frameworks remain fragmented, and the broader ecosystem is still developing.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
