Banking chief investment officers (CIOs) are more focused on digitalisation than CIOs in any other industry, new research has found.

The survey from Gartner, which polled more than 3,000 CIOs in 98 countries and across a number of major industries, suggests that banks are increasingly convinced that their old business models and existing value propositions will not be sustainable in the future.

When it comes to strategic business priorities, the survey found that digital transformation is more important for banking (first priority for 26 per cent of respondents) than for all industries (17 per cent).

Just behind digitalisation on 25 per cent is growth/market share, followed by complementary focus areas of profit improvement and customer focus (12 and 11 per cent, respectively).

Banking and investment services CIOs also place a relatively high priority on the globalisation of their businesses (seven per cent), a priority which does not make the top 10 at all for the all-industries average.

Additionally, artificial intelligence is seen as more differentiating (eight per cent) for banking than the all-industries average (five per cent).

Pete Redshaw, managing vice president at Gartner, said: “Digital transformation and its related technologies such as APIs are more important for banking than for other industries. Banks and other banking and investment services organisations clearly recognise that the status quo is not sustainable, and they must disrupt themselves before it is done to them.”

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