How Banking and Financial COOs Can Supercharge Operations with Gen AI—and Why unBPO Is the Perfect Partner

by: Matt Slonaker, Client Strategy 

Hey, finance folks! As a COO in banking or financial services, you’re under relentless pressure to deliver smarter, faster, and leaner operations while navigating a maze of regulations and legacy systems. Generative AI (gen AI) and its agentic counterparts are game-changers here, promising to automate, augment, and accelerate everything from loan approvals to fraud detection. I recently dug into a McKinsey article that breaks down how COOs across industries are leveraging gen AI to transform operations, and it sparked some thoughts: how can we in banking harness this tech to crush it? Better yet, how can unBPO—our cutting-edge approach to business process outsourcing—amplify these efforts? Let’s dive in, in my voice, with a banking lens and a spotlight on unBPO’s role.

The Gen AI Promise in Banking: Big Wins, Bigger Challenges

Gen AI isn’t just buzz—it’s a tool that can reshape banking operations. Imagine automating KYC (Know Your Customer) checks, generating real-time credit risk assessments, or even personalizing customer offers at scale. McKinsey highlights early adopters reaping rewards, like a digital marketing platform that used gen AI to manage “long tail” sales accounts, adding $30 million in annual revenue. In banking, that’s akin to using AI to streamline small-business loan applications or optimize anti-money-laundering (AML) processes, freeing up resources for high-value client relationships.

But here’s the reality check: McKinsey’s survey of 118 C-suite execs found only 19% saw gen AI drive revenue growth above 5%. In banking, where compliance costs eat margins and legacy tech slows us down, that tracks. Most banks are stuck in pilot mode, with only 1% of execs claiming “gen AI maturity”—where the tech fundamentally rewires how work gets done. COOs, this is our moment to step up, and unBPO can be the secret sauce to scale gen AI fast and smart.

Three Ways Banking COOs Can Lead with Gen AI (and How unBPO Fits)

McKinsey outlines three pillars for COOs to maximize gen AI’s impact: rethinking operating structures, mastering data governance, and nailing change management. Let’s unpack these for banking and show how unBPO aligns perfectly.

1. Rewiring Operating Structures for Gen AI

Banking operations are a beast—siloed teams, outdated core systems, and regulatory hurdles galore. Gen AI’s strength is its ability to bridge these gaps, but that demands a new operating model. McKinsey describes a European equipment manufacturer that united its COO, CIO, and other leaders to rethink operations holistically. For banks, this could mean assembling a cross-functional squad—your CIO, chief compliance officer, and heads of retail, commercial, and wealth management—to pinpoint high-impact gen AI use cases.

Enter the “Gen AI Center of Excellence” (COE), as McKinsey suggests. A centralized COE could prioritize use cases like automating loan underwriting or deploying AI agents to handle routine customer queries, letting relationship managers focus on big-ticket deals. McKinsey’s example showed a €300 million EBITDA boost for the manufacturer. In banking, think millions saved from faster mortgage processing or sharper fraud detection.

unBPO’s Role: Our Firstsource unBPO model—unlike traditional BPO—integrates AI-driven automation with human expertise, tailored to banking’s needs. We can act as an extension of your COE, accelerating use case deployment. For instance, unBPO can manage AI-powered KYC workflows, combining gen AI for document analysis with human oversight for compliance. This avoids fragmented pilots—like a retail banking chatbot that doesn’t sync with corporate systems—while delivering end-to-end impact. With unBPO, you get a plug-and-play partner to scale gen AI across domains like trade finance or customer onboarding, without the headache of building it all in-house.

2. Data Governance: The Bedrock of Gen AI

In banking, data is trust, and trust is everything. McKinsey notes that 70% of gen AI high performers struggle with data management. Sound familiar? Our data lives in silos—core banking systems, CRMs, risk models, compliance databases—often with conflicting versions of the same customer. Gen AI needs clean, unified data to shine, but it can choke on messes.

McKinsey shares a global materials company’s fix: a centralized data system harmonizing inputs from R&D, engineering, and support. For banks, this means creating a single source of truth for customer data, pulling from branches, digital channels, and call centers. Governance is key—human oversight ensures data quality, especially for sensitive tasks like AML screening or credit decisions. Regular audits keep it compliant with regs like GDPR, CCPA, or Basel III.

unBPO’s Role: Firstsource unBPO excels at data harmonization. We can integrate disparate banking systems—say, your Temenos core with Salesforce CRM—into a unified data layer for gen AI. Our human-AI hybrid approach ensures accuracy, with experts validating AI outputs for compliance. For example, unBPO can streamline data prep for AI-driven fraud detection, reducing false positives while meeting FINRA standards. This lets you focus on strategy, not data wrangling, and scales gen AI across use cases like regulatory reporting or personalized lending.

3. Change Management: Winning Hearts and Minds

Gen AI’s success isn’t about tech—it’s about people. McKinsey stresses that transformations hinge on rethinking how humans and AI collaborate. In banking’s risk-averse culture, where employees cling to familiar processes, this is a tall order.

McKinsey’s tech company example is inspiring: they used gen AI to automate statements of work, slashing days of repetitive tasks to hours. In banking, imagine automating loan agreements or SEC filings. But without buy-in, these tools gather dust. McKinsey’s solution? Change champions for each department, clear communication, and training to build confidence.

unBPO’s Role: Firstsource unBPO’s change management expertise is a game-changer. We don’t just deploy AI—we embed it into your workflows with tailored training and support. For instance, unBPO can roll out an AI tool for loan origination, training underwriters to use it and refine its outputs. Our change champions work with your retail, corporate, and compliance teams to ensure adoption, like adapting AI-generated Reg Z disclosures to real-world needs. The result? Faster processes, fewer errors, and staff empowered to focus on high-value tasks like client advisory. With unBPO, you’re not just buying tech—you’re buying a cultural shift.

The COO-CIO Partnership: Amplified by unBPO

Banking COOs know the pain of legacy systems that resist modern tech. CIOs, meanwhile, face pressure to deliver solutions fast without blowing budgets. Gen AI ups the stakes, but also opens doors for collaboration. McKinsey’s tech company showed how a COO-CIO partnership turned data into insights, revamping operations. In banking, this could mean the COO flagging pain points—like slow trade finance workflows—and the CIO adapting enterprise AI to fit.

unBPO’s Role: Firstsource unBPO bridges the COO-CIO gap. We handle the heavy lifting of integrating gen AI with legacy systems, like connecting AI-driven trade finance tools to SWIFT or core platforms. For example, unBPO can automate trade documentation, pulling data from compliance and customer systems, with the COO defining needs and the CIO ensuring tech alignment. This lets you offer real-time trade approvals, differentiating your bank in a crowded market. With unBPO, COOs and CIOs can focus on strategy, not execution hiccups.

A Real-World Example: unBPO in Action

Let’s make it concrete. A mid-sized bank we worked with struggled with slow commercial loan processing—manual reviews took days, frustrating clients. Using unBPO’s gen AI capabilities, we deployed an AI agent to analyze loan applications, pulling data from credit bureaus, internal records, and compliance systems. Our human experts validated outputs, ensuring Dodd-Frank compliance. We also trained staff to use the tool, with change champions in each branch. The result? Loan approvals dropped from 5 days to 12 hours, boosting client satisfaction and freeing underwriters for complex deals. This aligns with McKinsey’s vision of end-to-end impact, and unBPO made it happen.

The Bottom Line: Think Big, Act Smart with unBPO

Gen AI is a powerhouse for banking COOs, but McKinsey’s right: scattered pilots won’t cut it. Focus on big wins—end-to-end processes like loan origination, compliance, or customer onboarding—and build the structures, data systems, and change programs to scale them. unBPO is your partner to make this real, blending AI automation with human expertise to deliver results fast, from KYC to trade finance.

As a COO, your job is to see the forest and the trees: where can gen AI create value without breaking compliance or budgets? Team up with your CIO, leverage unBPO’s hybrid model, and get your people pumped about the future. The banks that nail this will save millions and redefine customer service in a digital-first world.

What’s your experience with gen AI in banking or financial services? Stuck in pilot purgatory or seeing wins? Drop a comment, and let’s swap ideas!

About unBPO: Firstsource unBPO redefines business process outsourcing for banking, combining gen AI automation with human expertise to streamline operations. From KYC to loan processing, we deliver compliant, scalable solutions that drive efficiency and growth. Learn more at: www.firstsource.com.