A recent report from PwC titled "AI Driving Renewal and Upgrade in Mainland China and Hong Kong Financial Services" highlights that the vast majority of respondents across banking, insurance, and asset management now view artificial intelligence as a core engine for strategic transformation, rather than merely a tool for efficiency gains.
During a media briefing, a PwC China management consulting partner stated that financial institutions have already achieved initial returns of approximately 10% to 15% from their AI investments. There is growing recognition of AI's long-term value in enhancing market position, expanding strategic opportunities, and fostering new growth drivers. However, a key issue remains insufficient investment levels—the survey indicates that 61% of financial institutions allocate less than 10% of their technology budget to AI, leaving an overall industry investment gap of about 30% to 40%.
Regarding AI application pathways in different financial subsectors, PwC's asset and wealth management leader for mainland China noted that banking applications are primarily concentrated in risk management, anti-money laundering, and compliance. The insurance sector focuses more on agent empowerment, customer service, and claims processing. In asset and wealth management, AI is mainly used for investment decision-making, portfolio management, and data and market analysis.
The consulting partner further explained that, in terms of foundational conditions, the banking and asset management industries generally lead the insurance sector in digital infrastructure and existing AI capabilities, with the latter relatively lagging in technological infrastructure and digital maturity. However, insurance demonstrates greater advantages in the diversity of application scenarios. Due to the industry's inherent reliance on identifying and assessing multidimensional risks—such as in high-frequency, complex scenarios like medical claims—it offers extensive and well-suited opportunities for the implementation of AI technologies like large language models.
The survey also revealed that 85% of insurance institutions position AI as a "strategic transformation engine," higher than the 70% in banking and 75% in asset management. This reflects, to some extent, the greater transformation pressures and operational complexity faced by the insurance industry, leading to a higher emphasis on AI and more diverse application scenarios.