Next ’25 recap: Financial services

Google Cloud Next '25 brought the future of technology to Las Vegas from April 9-11. For the financial services industry, the Mandalay Bay Convention Center was abuzz with discussions centered on transformation fueled by artificial intelligence. The clear message across our press announcements, sessions, spotlights, and demos was that AI, especially generative AI and intelligent agents, is no longer on the horizon but actively reshaping banking, insurance, payments, and capital markets. 

Leading institutions shared how they are using Google Cloud's capabilities – from AI platforms like Vertex AI and Gemini to data analytics, secure infrastructure, and tools like Agentspace – to enhance customer experiences, drive operational efficiency, manage risk, modernize data estates, and unlock new avenues for growth.

In case you missed it, here are some of the key areas where we’re driving transformation in financial services.

The rise of AI agents and automation

Throughout the event, one significant focus was how AI agents are automating processes and driving tangible results.

• • Driving core business functions: The breakout session, “AI agents: Driving results in financial services”, featuring USAA, Intuit, and Coinbase, focused on how these companies are driving significant change with AI agents. Part of Intuit’s story surrounds a new collaboration we announced together to make tax prep easier for millions of TurboTax customers this tax season with Google Cloud AI. We also recommend checking out "Delivering business value in the new agentic era," which shares strategies from customers like Deutsche Bank for maximizing gen AI value.

  • The data-driven C-suite: The session, “Lead with insights in the age of disruption,” addressed the critical shift towards data-driven leadership in today's disruptive business environment. The session provided business decision-makers with key insights and strategies to effectively leverage data, moving it beyond a back-office function to become central to informed decision-making and the achievement of a competitive edge. 

  • The journey to 10x productivity:  We announced a new partnership with United Wholesale Mortgage to modernize the mortgage lending process with Google Cloud AI. During the  session, “UWM AI-Powered Mortgage Story,”  United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM)shared its impressive results, including doubling of underwriter productivity within nine months. The session detailed how UWM is utilizing Vertex AI, Gemini Flash, and BigQuery to streamline the mortgage process for brokers and homebuyers, offering a compelling vision for the future of home financing driven by AI, including agentic experiences.

  • Transforming internal workflows: In the session, “Commerzbank transforms internal workflows with Gemini and Vertex AI,” the leading European financial institution detailed its journey to streamline financial advisory workflows, achieving significant reductions in documentation time and boosting productivity.

  • Accelerating development: One of our most popular sessions with PayPal, “Accelerate your software development lifecycle with agents,” explored how multi-agent platforms streamline code review, testing, and deployment, freeing developers for innovation.

  • Unlocking agent capabilities: The demo, "Unlock the power of Agentspace for financial institutions," showcased how this enterprise-grade platform helps solve information overload with multimodal search, personalized answers, content generation, and workflow automation.

Data modernization, analytics, and insights

Using data effectively remains paramount for success, and AI is unlocking new levels of insight.

• Data and analytics innovation: The spotlight, "Driving Data & Analytics Innovation at USAA: Financial Services in the age of GenAI" with Google Cloud partner Deloitte, explored AI-driven personalization and agentic architectures. Another great session, "Less artificial, more intelligence,” featured DBS Bank and Macquarie Banking and Financial Services Group discussing real-world gen AI applications for automation, personalization, and efficiency.

• Modernizing data estates: In the session, “How a global bank transformed their data estate with Teradata + Google,” HSBC shared its experiences in transforming and migrating massive data warehouses to Google Cloud, alongside partners Teradata and Accenture, achieving resilience and enabling data-driven decisions.

Enhanced customer experience

Within the financial services industry, AI is enabling more personalized and efficient customer interactions.

• AI-driven CX transformations: In the session, “From vision to reality: "AI-driven customer experience transformations,” American Family Insurance (AmFam) shared its story detailing how the provider is using Google Cloud data and AI solutions to redefine customer experience at the forefront of the industry.

Risk management, compliance, and security

AI is also playing a crucial role in helping banks and financial institutions tackle long-standing, complex risk and compliance challenges.

• AI-driven fraud prevention: Scotiabank and partner Deloitte explored the use of large-scale AI solutions for anti-money laundering in crypto in “AI in banking: Enable money-laundering detection and prevention at scale,” discussing the biggest challenges and best practices.

Cloud optimization, migration, and infrastructure

Efficiently managing and migrating to the cloud is also fundamental for both adopting and scaling AI to capture value.

• Cloud savings and FinOps: Lloyds Banking Group demonstrated how it dramatically optimized cloud costs, alongside partner Tata Consultancy Services, using FinOps hub 2.0 and Gemini Cloud Assist in the spotlight session, “Lloyds Banking Group revolutionizes banking and insurance with Cloud and AI.” We also announced that Lloyds Banking Group is building a new machine learning and generative AI platform using Google Cloud's Vertex AI. This collaboration has revolutionized the Group's ability to deploy impactful AI use cases at pace with over 300 data scientists and AI developers across the Group now using the platform.

• Migration at scale: The breakout session, “Accelerating migration to Google Cloud at scale: Practical lessons,” featuring Deutsche Bank and partner EPAM, shared practical lessons on shaping cloud strategy and accelerating migration journeys.

Payments innovation and the future

We also explored how the evolving landscape of payments and fintech is impacting the industry. 

• Rewiring payments: "Rewire payments for startups: Stablecoins and blockchain" featured PayPal and Anchorage Digital discussing the latest seismic shifts in financial services, including business-to-business transactions, stablecoin adoption, and the future of blockchain-based payments.

• Harnessing AI for startup innovation: In the breakout session, “The future of AI for startups,”  companies like LangChain, AssemblyAI, GV explored AI's impact on the startup landscape, including fintech, focusing on bold predictions and practical strategies.

Workforce empowerment

Technology adoption requires upskilling and providing the right tools.

• Closing the AI skills gap: Deutsche Bank North America discussed how continuous learning and building a culture of skill validation can help generate AI value in “The ROI of continuous learning: Build and validate skills to close the AI skills gap.”

• Collaboration across platforms: The breakout session, “Do your best work across SaaS platforms with Google Workspace,” featured Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and The Japan Research Institute sharing best practices for fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration with Google Workspace.

The road ahead

Next '25 made it evident that AI is fundamentally reshaping financial services. The industry is actively embracing AI — from the operational efficiencies gained by Commerzbank and Lloyds Banking Group to the customer-centric transformations of USAA and American Family Insurance to forward-looking innovations discussed by PayPal and HSBC. At Google Cloud, we are more committed than ever to providing the secure, scalable, and intelligent platform that will empower financial services institutions to not only navigate but lead in this new AI-driven era.