105 of joining that data, you can drive customer growth, identify behaviours that might be indicative of financial crimes and then drive greater efficiency into the back office. It reduces the cost of inefficient infrastructure, redundant data storage and processing, and unlocks time and capital for further innovation.” The Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), which also struggled to harness information from its vast internal data, has enhanced compliance and efficiency by building a platform on Azure. “The collaboration between UBS and Microsoft was driven by our need for flexibility and a robust technological roadmap,” says Lukasz Opoka, head of analytics and sales platform of wealth management and personal and corporate banking at UBS. “Azure allowed us to customise our platform and significantly enhance our service offerings.” UBS built two domain-specific AI assistants, collectively known as UBS Red. They were developed using Azure AI Search and Azure OpenAI Service to provide support to client advisors during customer interactions. “The internal information that we have, the financial expertise, the insights into financial markets, what’s happening in the world, it’s vast,” says Michel Neuhaus, head of AI, data and analytics of personal and corporate banking at UBS. “We have to find ways to make this content easily accessible to each and everyone in the bank, and Microsoft helps us with that.” UBS has digitised approximately 60,000 investment advice and product documents as a knowledge base. With these advancements, UBS is able to deliver AI-driven insights to risk professionals while addressing the complex regulatory landscape of the financial industry. “Microsoft is helping financial services firms operationalise AI-driven compliance and risk management through secure, scalable solutions like Azure AI,” says Knox. “Through partnerships with industry leaders, Microsoft integrates AI into compliance workflows, improving efficiency and accuracy. For example, collaborations with firms like PwC and Moody’s leverage AI-powered analytics to enhance regulatory monitoring, operational resilience, and financial crime prevention.” The regulatory landscape evolves quickly. In 2025 alone, financial services firms need to comply to the European Union’s Digital Operational Resilience Act, the Financial Stability Board’s Format for Incident Reporting Exchange framework, anti-money laundering directives, the EU AI Act, the implementation of Basel 3.1 in the UK, the continuing impact of Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation, and expected updates Novobanco in Portugal is working with Microsoft and Quantexa to unify its data, which in turn helps its employees to better serve customers FINANCIAL SERVICES Image: iStock/georgeclerk
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