Imagine an artificial intelligence assistant that doesn’t just answer your questions, but actually opens your bank app, finds what you need, and completes a transaction autonomously. This is Agentic AI—software designed to carry out complex, multi-step tasks without human intervention.
At the Money 20/20 Europe conference in Amsterdam—the fintech industry’s largest annual gathering—global giants Mastercard, Dutch bank ING, and Worldline announced a massive milestone: the completion of “Europe’s first live end-to-end agentic payment.” In a live demonstration, an AI assistant was told to find concert tickets within a specific budget and date. The bot autonomously scanned options, selected the best one, and executed the payment under minimal human approval.
According to a 2026 report led by the University of Cambridge, which surveyed over 600 global financial firms and regulators, the deployment of AI agents across the financial sector is projected to skyrocket from 24% today to a staggering 81% by 2030.
Investing Bots: Trading on Trump’s Social Media Posts
The practical applications of Agentic AI are already moving markets. Financial trading multinational eToro recently upgraded its AI systems from simply giving advice to actively executing trades on behalf of users under pre-set financial boundaries.
One striking example is an eToro app named POTU$. This specific AI agent constantly scans Donald Trump’s social media feeds and breaking news. The moment the U.S. President posts something that could sway financial markets, the bot automatically executes a trade in the user’s portfolio within seconds.
“AI use has grown roughly tenfold in six months, and 95% of our new code is now AI-written,” stated eToro CEO Yoni Assia. However, he cautioned: “AI is useless without humans steering it.”
The Human Cost: Mass Layoffs and Job Cuts
While fintech executives celebrate massive efficiency gains, the rapid shift toward automation is triggering severe workforce reductions across traditional banking and digital checkout platforms.
| Company / Institution | AI Integration / Milestone | Human Workforce Impact |
| Klarna (Fintech Giant) | AI bot handles customer service work of 700 full-time agents. | Cut workforce from 6,000 to under 3,000 employees. |
| ABN AMRO (3rd Largest Dutch Bank) | Launched AI bots “Ana” (customer support) and “Lenny” (credit requests). | Dropped from 500 physical branches to just 26; plans to cut 5,200 jobs by 2028. |
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski conceded to CNN that while revenue per employee has risen sharply, AI will undoubtedly lead to severe, short-term negative job implications in specific corporate areas.
The Risk Factor: Guardrails vs. Financial Chaos
The blistering speed of financial AI adoption has left global regulators scrambling. The University of Cambridge report explicitly warned that current technological changes “outpace the supervisory frameworks and technical capacities required to oversee them.”
Tech research firm Gartner offered an even darker prediction, estimating that more than 40% of current agentic AI projects will be canceled by the end of 2027 due to escalating operational costs, unclear business value, or a total lack of adequate risk controls.
For traditional institutions, keeping a human gatekeeper remains non-negotiable. As ABN AMRO CEO Marguerite Bérard boldly put it: “If you put AI on a bad process, you still have a bad process. Our rule is simple: guardrails but no handcuffs—there must always be a human on top and in the loop.”
Source: CNN Business / University of Cambridge Report / Gartner Research / EchoPress Tech
