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More than 61 percent of financial institutions in China and Hong Kong allocate 10 percent or less of their technology budget to AI, despite some return on their AI investments, a survey by PwC finds.
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The survey also found that more than half of them are using AI to augment their employees’ roles.
AI is used to complement human capabilities more than it is to reduce headcount, the report found, with respondents reporting reduced risk, more effective compliance, increased revenues, and lower cost as all contributing to the return on investment on their AI projects.
The result is based on a survey of 201 financial services professionals across the banking,
insurance, and asset & wealth management (AWM) sectors in the mainland and Hong Kong, coupled with 20 in-depth interviews, conducted between October 2025 and January 2026.
How AI is deployed varies somewhat between the different sectors: Anti-money laundering and compliance tasks figure strongly in banking; in insurance, customer service is critical; in AWM, AI is being used directly in investment and portfolio management, as well as risk management and data analytics, the report said.
It also identifies a number of constraints on the wider deployment of AI, with talent shortages and organizational rigidity cited by respondents as greater barriers to AI deployment than budgetary or technical issues.
Only 29 percent of respondents say that they have already succeeded in establishing an “AI-first” culture and many reported challenges in finding professionals who understand both ‘the business and the algorithms, the study found.
Long-term investment will be required to overcome the challenges to wider AI deployment, said PwC China Financial Services Industry Leader Matthew Phillips.
