UBS invests in AI data platform amid financial services shift
UBS, the world’s largest wealth manager, has announced an expansion of its partnership with enterprise AI platform provider Domino Data Lab, which includes a new equity investment.
The move signals the bank’s focus on scaling AI across its operations, though it emphasises the need for robust governance and risk management to ensure a responsible rollout.
The partnership builds on a five-year collaboration with RiskLab, UBS’s internal platform for AI model development.
The bank plans to roll out this approach across its entire organisation to “drive efficiency and innovation”, according to Stephan Hug, head group functions technology at UBS.
He framed the investment as a strategic choice to be an “AI-enabled institution”, leveraging technology for “smarter, faster, and above all, more responsible innovation”.
The in-house vs third-party debate
The financial services industry is grappling with a key decision of whether to build AI models in house, or rely on third party vendors.
Thomas Robinson, chief operating officer at Domino Data Lab, told City PM that, while vendor models can speed up initial adoption, they “confer no competitive advantage and increase risk”.
For critical business functions, a well-governed, in-house ‘AI factory’ is necessary to build high-throughput, safe and competitive models.
Robinson stressed that “responsible innovation” in finance is about balancing the need for growth with the imperative of managing financial and regulatory risk.
He warned that “poorly performing models don’t just create headlines; they erode growth, increase costs, damage customer trust, and can expose firms to fines”.
A broader trend in financial services
UBS’s investment comes as other major players are also rapidly integrating AI.
FNZ, a global wealth management platform, launched FNZ Advisor AI on Wednesday, a generative AI solution aimed at helping financial advisers with productivity and personalised client advice.
FNZ’s solution is designed to streamline the entire client meeting lifecycle, from preparation to follow-up, aiming to free up advisers from repetitive administrative tasks.
The company has also put in place a robust framework to manage the risk of “AI hallucinations” and ensure accuracy.
While FNZ is focused on a specific, adviser-facing product, UBS’s investment in Domino Data Lab suggests a different approach of building the underlying infrastructure for AI development across the entire bank.
This strategy, according to Robinson, demonstrates how leading institutions can accelerate innovation by embedding risk management and compliance into the core of their model development process.
However, this follows professional services firm Forvis Mazars‘ report, which revealed that while all surveyed C-suite executives claim to be “AI-ready”, only 43 per cent of firms have a well-developed AI strategy.
Meanwhile, just over half (51 per cent) of the 50 surveyed executives from firms with turnovers of at least £500m, have piloted AI solutions.
The report also found that AI adoption is being driven more by short term experimentation than long term planning.