Reimagining financial marketing in the age of AI

Jacob Howard FCIM, chair of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)’s Financial Services Sector Interest Group and MD and founder of Financial Marketing Insights (FMI) recently moderated a high-impact panel at the APAC Financial Services Marketing Leaders’ Summit in Singapore. Reuters, the World Media Group, ON24, Ashbury Communications and over 70 senior marketing influencers from across the region attended. Supported by CIM, the summit explored how AI, data, and digital transformation are reshaping the future of financial services marketing. This article details Howard’s experience at the event.

I really enjoyed the panel titled Navigating Digital Transformation: Challenges and Opportunities with Kevin Chung, chief strategy officer at Writer, and Adam Harper, founder of Ashbury Communications. Together, we unpacked the operational realities behind AI adoption, the shifting dynamics of audience engagement, and the strategic imperatives facing financial marketers in 2026 and beyond.

From buzzwords to business value

I opened with a live audience poll: “What’s the biggest barrier to adopting AI?” The top responses, compliance and data security, came as no surprise to Chung. “These are table stakes,” he noted. “Enterprise AI isn’t consumer AI. You need soup-to-nuts compliance, legal safeguards, and brand integrity baked in.”

Harper echoed the sentiment, adding that while marketing budgets remain tight, strategic investment is rising in Asia’s private wealth sector. “We’re seeing a contrarian push among asset managers to capture new audiences,” he said. “And that means smarter, more targeted marketing.”

Efficiency, innovation, and the rise of AI Agents

Harper framed digital transformation as a dual engine: efficiency and innovation. “We’ve automated structured tasks and seen 30–40% time savings,” he shared. “But the real opportunity is freeing up junior talent to learn higher-value skills, and collaborate with AI, not compete with it.”

Chung expanded on this with examples from Writer’s enterprise deployments. From Airbnb’s 50,000-page Originals launch to Uber’s automated support replies, the message was clear: AI isn’t replacing humans - it’s amplifying them. “One agent can do what used to take a team,” he said. “And in financial services, that means personalised client updates, automated research, and scalable content - all before your morning coffee.”

Audience insights and the new rules of discoverability

Harper spotlighted a shift in how firms understand their audiences. “AI lets us move beyond expensive surveys to instant, high-quality insights,” he said. “We’re using tools like Inference Clouds to map audience sentiment and tailor content accordingly.”

He also warned of a new frontier: AI search. “Discoverability is changing. It’s no longer about keywords, it’s about narrative structure and trust signals. High-quality earned and owned media are back in vogue.”

Chung agreed, introducing the concept of GEO - Generative Engine Optimisation. “Forget SEO. Generative engines are scanning full-text pages. If your content isn’t structured for LLMs, you won’t be found.”

What’s next: AI Centres of Excellence and digital workforces

Looking ahead six months, both speakers predicted a seismic shift. “Every Fortune 500 company will have an AI Centre of Excellence,” Chung said. “They’ll be running hundreds, if not thousands, of agents. These are your digital employees: tireless, auditable, and fully trained.”

Harper added a philosophical twist. “We’re entering a world where machines do machine work, and humans reclaim human work. But we’ll also collaborate more closely than ever with avatars, agents, and AI influencers. It’s exciting. And a little eerie.”

Guardrails, governance, and the human element

The panel closed with a reminder: enterprise AI demands more than tech. It requires partnership, customisation, and trust. “You don’t buy AI off the shelf,” said Chung. “You build it together. And you keep humans in the loop, not just for compliance, but for judgment, context, and creativity.”

Harper summed it up well: “AI is transforming how we work, but it’s also reminding us what makes human intelligence irreplaceable.”

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