Nine out of 10 global investment managers have adopted AI, but only a small number use it for actual investment decisions, a report showed. It said change in core functions such as profit generation and risk management has been slow relative to the pace of AI rollout.

Fintech News Switzerland reported on Nov. 11 that a survey commissioned by BlackRock’s investment management platform Aladdin and conducted by Forrester Consulting found 87% of financial institutions said they have adopted AI functions or use them in their work. The survey was conducted from May to July this year among 303 senior decision-makers at asset managers, banks, insurers and pension funds.

Most respondents, however, remained at the “emerging” stage in an AI maturity assessment. The report defined “emerging” as focusing on operational efficiency improvements such as data analysis and automating repetitive tasks. By contrast, top-tier “leader” institutions used AI to secure competitiveness by linking it to portfolio construction, investment decision-making and risk management.

Some 61% of respondents said they improved investment operations efficiency using AI. Only 33% said they had secured new investment strategies or capabilities through AI analysis.

The biggest obstacle to wider AI use was staff readiness and on-the-ground acceptance, cited by 61% of respondents. A shortage of specialised technical talent, at 58%, and data infrastructure issues, at 55%, followed. The survey also pointed to limitations including a lack of connectivity among existing systems and difficulty in getting a clear view of investment asset information.

Over the next 3 to 5 years, priorities for technology and operations investment were modernising outdated systems, at 45%, applying AI to investment decision-making, at 42%, and improving the speed of capital allocation and the certainty of judgement, at 40%.

The issue is not limited to finance. In a 2026 global survey by McKinsey, 89% of respondents said they regularly use AI for at least one task, but 37% said AI contributed to improving corporate operating profit.

Changing data and work structures alongside technology adoption is emerging as a task that separates results.