Disintermediation is here
Disintermediation is here
AI agents are removing layers between providers and customers. Financial services. Retail. Insurance.
These agents handle sophisticated money decisions autonomously. Customer inertia in deposits and credit cards? Eroding fast. Global payments revenue tops $2.7 trillion. BofA flagged over $15 billion in U.S. insurance broker commissions as at risk.
But here's the flip side.
McKinsey estimates GenAI could deliver $200 to $340 billion in annual value to banking. Productivity gains. Better decisions. Richer customer experiences.
Adoption is accelerating. 23% of organizations are already scaling. Another 39% are experimenting. The global market for agentic AI in financial services is projected to surge from $2.1 billion in 2024 to $80.9 billion by 2034.
I've spent my entire career where financial services meets digital technology.
I've never been more excited.
This isn't disruption for the sake of disruption.
It's a chance to innovate faster. Get closer to customers. Deliver more value. We hand off routine tasks to agentic systems and redirect human energy toward what matters: deeper insights, hyper-personalized experiences, creative strategy, breakthrough relationships.
The same shift that compresses middle layers creates space for direct, trust-based connections at scale.
This has to be a net positive for our people.
AI isn't here to replace us. It amplifies what we do best.
In every internal conversation, I lead with optimism. We talk about how agentic AI frees teams from drudgery so they focus on high-impact work. Work with real fulfillment. We measure success by employee satisfaction, creativity, and career growth (not efficiency metrics alone).
Change is coming to almost every industry.
Winners won't be the biggest or the first. They'll be the ones who approach this with a proactive, positive mindset.
Here's how:
✅ Accept what agentic AI takes over
✅ Reimagine roles around higher-value creation
✅ Build excitement internally, then get to work
The future belongs to organizations and leaders who embrace this moment with energy and clarity.
