EXCLUSIVE — After a year of AI hype, financial institutions seem more interested in building out an open banking ecosystem that actually uses the technology, and less interested in rushing towards an AI “breakthrough” that will revitalize banking.

“Banks need to be preparing for the new cognitive world — 2018 is the year we’re going to see more use,” Alex Kwiatkowski, senior strategist, banking and digital channels for Finastra, told Bank Innovation. “FIs have recognized that AI and cognitive play a role in the future of banking.”

Finastra, a provider of financial services software created by the merger of providers Misys and D+H last year, offers cognitive solutions dealing with KYC and customer management, as well as other areas. The company is also collaborating with IBM to explore the use of AI in retail banking and the cloud.

These projects are proving useful toward the creation of a less siloed banking ecosystem for the near future, said Kwiatkowski, and show that banks are no longer rushing for a “revolution” in the industry when it comes to integrating these technologies.

“All of the banks have calmed down now that we have noticed [AI] is not this kind of silver bullet,” said Kwaitkowski. Instead of seeing a “Eureka moment” with artificial intelligence, FIs are using the technology to create “a shift towards open-banking, the use of more open-source services, to build an improved user experience,” Kwaitkowski said.

The true beginnings of this new ecosystem will begin in 2018, when FIs are not only aware of and using cognitive technology in finance, but actively creating value with it.

“If you want [your bank] to have more flexibility, more speed, all of that is available for you pretty much right now. The technology blessing is that we’re not waiting for a ‘breakthrough,” said Kwiatkowski. “Everything is about creating value.”