**Abstract**

This chapter aims at providing a framework for analysis on evolutionary trends in finance that have to do with technological progress and especially with artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The starting point can be identified with a survey on how they have modified the business areas involving banking and financial services and on what can be expected – in terms of future strategic shifts and behavioral changes – on both the supply and the demand sides. The next step revolves around a wider and deeper investigation on the role that virtual assistants have started to – and are likely to further – play in the areas under scrutiny: special attention is requested upon the provision of enhanced customer service support, including conversational AI and sound branding; implications encompass developments that are on the cards, based upon digitalization as a must – not just an option – as shown by the Covid-19 pandemic. Conclusions allow to emphasize the significance, advancing features and value of this conceptual paper, as it leads to sort out best practices and success stories that are worth disseminating and replicating to benefit not only individuals and enterprises having direct interest in them, but society as a whole.

**Keywords:** AI applications, banking, conversational AI, digitalization, financial services, sound branding, virtual assistant

#### **1. Introduction**

Remarkable improvements in computer and telecommunication technology have fueled financial innovation worldwide in the last few decades and are key to most developments under way, that encompass institutional, product and process innovations: they deal with new types of financial firms (such as specialist credit card companies, electronic trading platforms and direct banks), new financial services (such as derivatives, asset-backed securities and foreign currency mortgages) and new ways of doing financial business (such as virtual, home and phone banking); in other words, all three pillars that the financial system is generally thought of being based on – namely: financial institutions, markets and products – have been positively affected, to the point that "many of the things that seemed so incredible 10 years ago are now foundational" [1]. Looking forward, the incredible pace of technology-driven change sounds promising for further progress, that may prove beneficial non only to financial institutions, but also to their counterparts across all economic sectors and geographical areas.

Within this framework, a major role needs to be assigned to artificial intelligence (AI), as a "multidisciplinary topic, where researches from multiple fields as neuroscience, computing science, cognitive sciences, exact sciences and different engineering areas converge" [2]. Related applications have gained momentum in the realms of banking and financial services, as well as in other industries, thus leading to state that getting involved in AI is a must, rather than just an option: reference points can be easily identified with "machines or systems that can perform complex tasks normally considered to require 'intelligence' and thus thought to be the preserve of humans" while the meaning of AI has been explained by evoking "a computer system that can sense, comprehend, act and learn"; as a result, it can be argued that "by enabling machines to interact more naturally – with their environment, with people and with data – the technology can extend the capabilities of both humans and machines far beyond what each can do on their own" [3], p. 3.

These thoughts pave the way for emphasizing the cross-cultural implications of AI, with its specific challenges and opportunities, and for discussing about it in terms of "systems endowed with the intellectual processes characteristic of humans, such as the ability to reason, discover meaning, generalize, or learn from past experience" [4]. Along this line of analysis, it comes natural to sort out most recent trends in this field, which sounds like an invitation to shed special light on AI-powered virtual assistants: they tend to be perceived as innovative tools that can help financial institutions and especially banks – as well as other enterprises – to provide customer service support and carry out administrative tasks, though the pertaining scope seems much wider; therefore, it is worth investigating how these digital assistants can be usefully resorted to and fully exploiting their potential, in sight of contributing to advances in the financial industry and particularly in the banking sector, due to its relevance and even prominence in many operating areas.
