Future Skills in Banking: Building Pipelines in AI, Cybersecurity, and Digital Risk

The banking sector has always evolved with technology, but in 2025 the speed of change is unprecedented. Artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital risk are now front and centre. For leaders, the challenge is no longer whether these skills matter, but how to build a sustainable pipeline of talent that can deliver them.

1. AI Is Transforming Banking Roles

AI has moved from theory to practice. For example:

• As of January 2025, 54 % of financial-services companies reported they had deployed AI initiatives (up from 40 % a year earlier). S&P Global
• One market estimate puts the global “AI in banking” market at around US$34.6 billion in 2025, projected to grow to about US$379.4 billion by 2034 (CAGR ~30 %). Precedence Research
• Also: about 38 % of banks in 2025 expect full end-to-end automation across key functions in the next five years (versus ~8 % in 2023). EY

Banks are using AI for fraud detection, credit analysis, customer support, and predictive analytics. The question is how to scale its benefits responsibly. That requires more than technical coding expertise. Banks need professionals who combine data science with financial acumen, capable of turning complex insights into business strategy while managing the ethical and regulatory implications. Without this blend, AI initiatives risk being fragmented or poorly governed.

In other words: the sheer scale of AI investment and deployment means the talent gap is real — not just engineers, but people who bridge AI + banking + governance. Further, the growing regulatory / systemic-risk angle is clear: the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) is actively monitoring AI use in banks—flagging risks around second-order effects (model biases, systemic credit mis-allocation, reliance on a few AI service providers). Bank of England

So: the pipeline must include people who understand AI + finance + governance/regulation — which is a rarer breed.

2. Cybersecurity Is Non-Negotiable

The digitisation of financial services has made banks prime targets for cybercrime — and 2025 data underline this urgency:

• According to the IBM Corporation “Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025”, the global average cost of a data breach is US$4.44 million. For financial services specifically, the average is US$5.56 million. Northdoor
• Another source puts the average cost for a financial-institution breach at around US$6.08 million in 2025. DeepStrike
• According to the UK government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey (2025), 72 % of businesses (across all sectors) say cyber-security remains a high priority—but only 27 % of businesses in 2025 had a board-level member responsible for cyber-security (down from 38 % in 2021). GOV.UK
• On the threat side, advanced threats are rising: by 2025, it is projected that 45 % of global organisations will have faced software supply-chain attacks. Fortinet

Technical security specialists are critical, but they are only part of the solution. The most effective cybersecurity leaders are those who can bridge the gap between technology and business, ensuring that security is embedded into strategic decisions and regulatory frameworks. This combination of technical depth and commercial understanding is in short supply — and in high demand.

Given the cost of breaches in banking, the regulatory scrutiny, and the frequency of attacks, banks need talent who not only know how to defend but also how to govern, communicate, align to business risk, third-party oversight, etc.

3. Digital Risk Demands a Broader View

Beyond AI and cybersecurity, banks face a wider set of digital risks: data privacy, third-party reliance (vendors, cloud, outsourcing), cloud resilience, regulatory scrutiny, model risk, operational resilience, ethics in AI, and systemic exposures.

Some relevant data points:

• The AI-monitoring focus of the Bank of England’s FPC in 2025 emphasised that AI models used by banks could introduce systemic vulnerabilities — e.g., if widely used models mis-price credit or exposures because of common weaknesses. Bank of England
• According to a UK banking statistic, as of 2025, 12 % of UK adults say they would not consider opening a digital-only bank account because of payment fraud or cybersecurity concerns. ventionteams.com
• In “Next in banking and capital markets 2025” (by PricewaterhouseCoopers) it is highlighted that banks must prepare for regulatory deficiencies, non-traditional risks, and data/AI governance if they are to seize growth opportunities. PwC

Managing these digital risks requires professionals who understand risk holistically. They must not only identify vulnerabilities but also anticipate how digital disruption affects customer trust, compliance, and market stability. The ability to think broadly about digital risk is fast becoming a differentiator for banks that want to stay ahead of both regulators and competitors.

Conclusion

The skills banks need most in 2025 go beyond technical expertise. AI, cybersecurity, and digital risk demand professionals who can combine specialist knowledge with financial insight, regulatory awareness, and strategic thinking. Building this pipeline will not happen by accident. It requires deliberate investment in training, smarter recruitment, and stronger employer brands that appeal to scarce talent. Those banks that act now — in a landscape where the AI-in-banking market is growing rapidly, breach costs are high, and digital risks are widening — will be positioned not just to manage digital disruption, but to turn it into competitive advantage.

‍