Unlocking AI's potential

Siobhan Noble, Managing Director, Product and Customer Success

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Unlocking AI's potential in the funds sector: Insights from the Irish Funds Emerging Tech & Innovation Speaker Series 2025

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the funds sector, offering unprecedented opportunities for innovation, efficiency, and strategic advantage. But what’s the secret to successful AI implementation? Industry leaders gathered at Carne Group's Dublin offices for the inaugural session of the Irish Funds Emerging Tech & Innovation Speaker Series 2025 to explore how AI is revolutionising fund management and financial services.

The event was hosted by Siobhan Noble, Managing Director at Carne and Vice Chair of the Irish Funds Emerging Tech and Innovation Group. Here she summarises the key points of what was a very informative discussion.

Industry leaders and keynote insights

Carne was delighted to host this Speaker Series on a topic you can’t escape and still something the industry is grappling with. We were lucky enough to be joined by prominent industry leaders including Neil D'Rosario, Global Product Lead at Northern Trust; Marie Taylor-Ghent, Partner for Asset Management Digital Solutions at PwC; Carlo Salizzo, Partner in the Technology and Innovation Group at Matheson LLP; and Rebecca Keenan, Global Head of Intelligent Automation at Expleo Group.

A compelling keynote on ‘AI and the Future of Finance’ from Rebecca began the evening. She highlighted global trends, the significant impact of AI on the financial services sector, and the leadership imperative to embrace this technology. Keenan emphasised that AI is already outperforming humans in certain tasks and that investment in generative AI is skyrocketing, making workers more productive and enhancing the quality of work.

Panel discussion: opportunities and challenges

The panel discussion was centred on the baseline question when it comes to AI — how to turn AI’s potential into performance and what are the common challenges in implementing and driving adoption of this technology.

Here are some of the key points made:

• Immense opportunities: An industry shake up is underway — AI is disrupting the entire fund lifecycle including product ideation and development, client acquisition, onboarding, user experience, risk management, AML, fraud detection, and compliance monitoring, to name a few.
• Strategic vision: Success lies in solving meaningful problems with a clear strategy and responsible management.
• Leadership challenge: It starts at the top — strong leadership, vision, commitment, and investment are crucial for successful AI implementation.
• Navigating complexity: Robust governance frameworks are essential for navigating regulatory, legal, security, and data protection issues.
• Data foundations: AI is only as good as the data behind it — solid data foundations, high-quality inputs, and tight management practices are key to driving measurable results.
• Change management: To fully embrace AI, organisations need effective change management strategies that engage employees and drive habit, mindset, and cultural transformation.
• Collaboration: Working with trusted partners enables companies to leverage additional AI expertise, accelerate competitiveness, and remain focused on their core business.

Supermodel and Change 2025 report findings

Carne’s recent Supermodel and Change 2025 reports highlight the growing importance of technologies like AI for the future of the asset management industry. The Supermodel report, based on insights from 200 global leaders, emphasised that AI is central to addressing margin challenges, despite the vast challenges of scaling up technology infrastructure and data centralisation.

In our Change 2025 report, backed by insights from 251 C-suite fund managers and 200 institutional investors, we found that managers see AI as a transformative force and are most frequently using AI for idea generation and portfolio construction, while institutional investors see opportunities in manager selection and asset allocation.

At Carne, AI is already transforming our business operations through advanced analytics, process automation, and smart machine reading tools, significantly enhancing efficiencies and mitigating risks.

Looking ahead

AI is undoubtedly a disruptive force. Embracing AI requires a culture of continuous improvement, collaboration, and investment in AI capabilities. The opportunity AI presents is vast, from enhanced operational efficiencies to improved decision-making and risk management. Yet, the challenges are equally significant, including the need for robust governance, understanding regulatory implications, and addressing the ethical considerations of AI deployment. As the funds industry navigates this transformative journey, it is crucial to balance innovation with responsibility to unlock AI's full potential, while safeguarding the interests of all stakeholders.

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