All banks will have to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) within the next five years to keep up with the demands of the next generation of customers, according to a former Barclays wealth manager.

Akshaya Bhargava, who today launched AI FinTech platform Bridgeweave, also told City AM that banks will need to deploy new technologies in order to meet the expectations of the Millennials who will soon take over from the Baby Boomer generation as part of the $30 trillion “great wealth transfer”.

Bhargava, who was chief executive officer of wealth and investment management at Barclays from 2014-2017, set up investment app Bridgeweave - which uses advanced algorithms and large data sets to provide insights on range of assets classes - last year.

As the FinTech officially launched its services this morning, he warned that financial institutions will need to adapt their customer offerings to online and digital platforms as wealth passes to the next generation over the course of the next 20 years.

“If you work at a large financial institution you have a large amount of talent and money to spend on technology, but sometimes it is very hard to get things done quickly," he told City AM.

"We believe that AI will be transformational,” he said, adding that traditional institutions should brace for rapid change in the banking landscape in the next half decade.

“I think the AI transformation is starting, but in the next five years every bank will have to do it because they will have no choice. The early adopters will get bigger market share,” Bhargava said.

His predictions come after a study by Accenture suggested that digital challengers were eating up a third of all new banking revenue, with the UK experiencing the most profound market disruption from new entrants – a trend which was evidenced by a 63 per cent rise in new FinTech players in 2017 alone.

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