Citi GPS, Citi’s thought leadership product, released a report last week exploring the transformative potential of agentic artificial intelligence (AI), a cutting-edge advancement enabling AI systems to make decisions and perform tasks independently.
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The report, titled “Agentic AI – Finance and “Do it for me‘ Economy explores how agentic AI is poised to redefine industries, particularly financial services, by increasing efficiency, scalability and personalization.
Agentic AI marks a shift toward what Citi GPS calls the “do it for me” economy, where technology takes over decision-making and task execution. Unlike generative AI, which relies on user prompts, agentic AI adapts and acts autonomously.
According to Citi GPS, in 2024, 37% of venture capital funding went to AI startups, this figure is likely to increase in 2025. Autonomous agents and digital collaborators saw the highest growth in venture capital deal activity in 2024, tracked by GenAI for clients. support operations. This trend is expected to continue as BigTech and the venture capital community look toward agentic AI in 2025 and beyond.
“The IT department of every company will be the HR department of AI agents in the future,” the report quotes NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. The ability of agentic AI to imitate human action, and in some cases surpass it, promises a wave of innovation that could redefine how financial services operate.
Citi GPS identifies agentic AI as game-changing for the financial industry. From virtual financial assistants providing tailored investment advice to autonomous fraud detection systems, the applications are vast. Compliance processes, such as know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) checks, can also be streamlined, significantly reducing manual efforts and error rates.
Agent contracts are another development highlighted in the report. These programmable and enforceable agreements automate compliance, payments and regulatory oversight, with the potential to revolutionize asset financing and contract management.
Citi GPS highlights renewed interest in venture capital, with funding for autonomous AI startups reaching record levels in 2024. Leading companies such as Microsoft, Oracle and Amazon are rapidly integrating agentic AI into their platforms -forms, signaling a wider wave of adoption in 2025.
However, the report also highlights threats such as AI-based fraud, deepfake scams and data misuse. Deepfake scams have reportedly increased by over 2,000% in the last three years and banks/FinTechs are one of the most targeted victims.