● JPMorgan Chase increases its share of new banking industry AI research from 30% in 2018 to 45% in 2023 according to Evident Dispatch
● AI research seen as key to successful AI adoption; 30% YoY growth in industry output, and 40 out of the 50 banks in the Evident AI Index published at least some AI research over the last 5 years
● Evident highlights HSBC, BBVA and Goldman Sachs as the banks to watch in 2024 after growing both their AI research teams and research output in 2023
February 8th, 2024 – LONDON, UK – JPMorgan Chase has consolidated its reputation as an AI research powerhouse, according to new data from AI benchmarking and intelligence platform Evident.
Evident’s first monthly Dispatch reveals that the banking giant has steadily increased its share of AI research output from 30% in 2018 to 45% in 2023.
JPMorgan Chase’s dominance is a direct result of investment in AI research talent. The bank employs over 200 AI researchers, more than 4x that of its nearest research rival (Royal Bank of Canada) and nearly half (48%) of the talent pool available across the Top 10 banks for AI research.
Alongside JPMorgan, three banks saw significant spikes in published AI research papers as compared to historical output. HSBC, BBVA and Goldman Sachs are key banks to watch in 2024, with all of them growing their AI research teams more than their rivals in 2023, making them well-positioned to achieve outsized gains moving forward.
The Evident Dispatch leverages the data behind the Evident AI Index – the go-to benchmark for AI in banking – to surface monthly analysis tracking “need to know” changes across the industry.
According to Dispatch, AI research capability is increasingly recognised as a prerequisite for future AI success. Banks are reliant on published research to showcase their AI credentials to prospective talent, partners and shareholders, and, in the last year, the world’s biggest banks produced over 330 research papers specific to AI, a 6x increase in industry-wide output in five years.
Annabel Ayles, Evident Co-founder and Co-CEO said:
“Our data shows a clear correlation between the banks that doubled down on AI research five years ago and their current leadership position, while those that haven’t made the same kind of investment are finding their AI capabilities constrained.
“It takes time to build AI research capability – and even longer for those teams to generate research output – but we can already see new players such as HSBC, BBVA and Goldman Sachs investing in this space, and ramping up their efforts quickly. They may not be immediately able to challenge the industry leaders’ AI dominance, but it could be the move that keeps them in the race.”
The Top 10 banks for AI research accounted for over 80% of total industry output between 2018-2023. Notably, the share of AI research produced by US banks each year is nearly 70% (+24% since 2018), underscoring their persistent and growing dominance over European rivals.
While the overall volume of output has slowed over the last year, the number of banks actively participating in AI research continues to increase. 40 out of the 50 banks in the Evident AI Index have published at least one AI research paper since 2018, up from only 13 banks in 2018 – suggesting that more banks are recognising the strategic value of AI research.
Evident notes that the Top 10 banks share common DNA – namely, they have centralised AI capability in a dedicated Research Lab or centre of excellence, which serves as a key lever to attract and retain leading talent.
The complete Top 10 for AI research is as follows:
| Bank | AI Research Unit |
| 1. JPMorgan Chase | AI Research team |
| 2. Royal Bank of Canada | Borealis AI |
| 3. TD Bank | Layer 6 |
| 4. Capital One | AI Foundations team |
| 5. Wells Fargo | AI/ML Model Development CoE |
| 6. Intesa Sanpaolo | Innovation Center > Applied Research > AI Lab |
| 7. CommBank | CBA AI Labs |
| 8. BBVA | AI Factory |
| 9. Morgan Stanley | Machine Learning Research team |
| 10. Goldman Sachs | AI Research team |
Alexandra Mousavizadeh, Evident Co-Founder and CEO, comments:
“Producing cutting-edge AI research is how the banks are able to assert their strategic positioning as AI innovators and leaders. Without it, they will struggle to recruit the best talent or convince partners and stakeholders that they are serious players in a marketplace that is increasingly defined in terms of who is AI-ready and who isn’t.”
“The arrival of Gen AI is also leading many banks to review where in the organisation the research team sits and ensure that there are both central and federated approaches to organisation-wide AI use-case identification. It all comes down to how quickly you can scale AI across the bank”
– Ends –
NOTE TO EDITORS:
About Evident
Evident is a benchmarking and intelligence platform that aims to provide the most authoritative source of data-driven insights on how companies are adopting AI.
Beginning with banking, Evident has created the first independent benchmark for tracking industry-wide AI adoption and readiness. Drawing from millions of public data points, the Evident AI Index assesses 50 of the world’s largest banks across four main areas of AI capability: talent (capability & development), innovation (research, patents, ventures, ecosystem), leadership (in public communications and strategy), and responsible AI (including principles, people, publications and partnerships).
Evident also provides a wealth of ongoing research, data insights and events – including its annual AI Symposium – to deep-dive into banking sector AI progress, track trends, and explore how the world’s biggest financial institutions are approaching AI adoption, identifying use cases and measuring outcomes, impact and ROI – providing vital lessons for business leaders, investors and the financial services ecosystem at large.
Learn more at Evidentinsights.com.
About the Evident Dispatch
The Evident Dispatch is a monthly product prepared exclusively for members of Evident’s benchmarking and intelligence platform.
Leveraging the data that drives the Evident AI Index, the Dispatch surfaces monthly analysis on a specific sub-pillar of the index, highlighting “need to know” changes, including:
● Emerging banking industry AI trends
● Individual banks that deviate from their historical performance on key metrics
● Shifts that could ultimately contribute to changes in the annual Evident AI Index ranking
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