As the use of AI across financial markets continues to grow, a recent survey from SmartBrief reveals key trends that are shaping the adoption of AI across the industry. The “AI in Financial Markets” survey, in collaboration with Google Cloud, was conducted in late February/early March of 2026 and features insights from market participants who work in a variety of job functions. An expanded analysis of all the survey data is forthcoming, but here are some early takeaways:
A Strong Majority of Organizations are Actively Deploying AI and Plan to Increase Investment
The data shows that AI has moved beyond the research phase for most respondents, with organizations committing to it through deployment and increased spending. Nearly three-quarters of organizations (74.2%) are actively deploying AI solutions, with 41.9% in the “Experimenting” phase and 32.3% having moved to “Operational” workflows. A strong majority (77.4%) project an increase in AI investment for the next fiscal year. This increase is often moderate to significant, with nearly half (50%) projecting a moderate (11%–25%) or significant (>25%) increase.
Significant Barriers to Scaling AI Remain
When it comes to scaling AI across the organization, the primary challenges are no longer technical execution issues like compute or latency, but rather organizational and compliance hurdles. “Regulatory/Compliance risks; governance” is the most frequently cited bottleneck, selected by 56.5% of respondents. Following closely are “Security concerns” (45.2%) and “Data Readiness & Fragmentation” (41.9%), underscoring the foundational issues of managing sensitive data and ensuring its quality for AI models.
Looking Ahead
While the full survey results will be revealed in the coming weeks, these early insights paint a picture in which market particpants are keen to expand the use of AI for a variety of tasks. However, organizational bottlenecks will need to be reduced or removed if firms are to leverage AI to its fullest potential.