The increasing use of artificial intelligence in financial systems is driving the industry towards a model where machines handle transactions on a large scale, creating new challenges related to control, oversight, and infrastructure, according to Microsoft and Chainalysis executives. Bill Borden, Microsoft's corporate vice president of worldwide financial services, stated that legacy systems will face growing pressure as transaction demands become more complex. The turning point occurs when latency, scale, and complexity begin to impact a company's ability to compete, forcing firms to reassess their system architecture, he said at an event in New York City. While automation has long been a part of finance, Borden noted that the focus is now shifting from capability to trust.
The question is no longer about whether technology can automate tasks, but rather whether it can be trusted and audited. To manage this transition, Microsoft is developing tools that assign identities and permissions to AI agents and track their actions. In regulated environments, companies must be able to demonstrate what controlled a system and whether it followed policy when decisions are made without direct human input. Jonathan Levin, co-founder and CEO of Chainalysis, pointed out that the crypto sector already provides a working model of automated finance, with blockchain networks processing large volumes of transactions through smart contracts and software-driven wallets.
This creates an environment similar to agent-based systems. Levin noted that the experience in the crypto sector extends to risk management, citing efforts to track illicit funds across thousands of wallets as an example of the kind of monitoring required in a system where transactions occur at scale without direct human input.
Looking ahead, both executives anticipate a mix of systems coexisting. Levin predicted that the majority of commerce in 10 years will be settled on public infrastructure, while Borden envisioned a more integrated approach linking public blockchains, private networks, and existing payment rails. Borden believes that traditional payment rails will continue to exist, with software serving as the layer that connects them.