Driving true compliance with AI

Decision makers view AI as a key tool for addressing their biggest grievances, but they don’t know where to start. Jamie Hoyle at MirrorWeb shares some advice

 

Financial services is a high-pressure industry, and leaders are constantly pushed to find smarter ways to work that deliver a competitive edge. For many senior leaders, efficiency is the most important measure, and over half (59%) believe their current approach to mobile compliance is succeeding.

 

Yet, there remains a significant reality gap. While leadership teams see streamlined operations, behind the scenes, compliance teams fight a losing battle with inefficient processes that are draining both time and money.

 

With fragmented mobile compliance approaches in use across the industry - and even between departments within single organisations - the solution is clear. Organisations must prioritise unified, common-sense strategies, or those hidden costs will become all too visible. 

 

 

Your compliance strategy costs more than you think

Senior leadership may express confidence, but operational data reveals a different reality: false positives dominate mobile surveillance workflows. Specialist compliance teams are spending, on average, 308 hours every year on mobile communications surveillance, with substantial time consumed by investigating irrelevant alerts that require mandatory review.

 

To put it into perspective, a combined 78% of teams are dealing with these alerts at least once on a weekly basis, meaning persistent disruptions to their work and their focus. It also has a tangible impact on the bottom line. On average, businesses lose an estimated £232,457 per year due to false positives.

 

Legacy compliance tools are unsuitable for the current era. These outdated systems cannot process the volume, complexity, and nuanced language of modern mobile communications effectively. Senior leadership must evaluate compliance holistically - failure to modernise impacts both compliance teams and broader business performance.

 

By contrast, transitioning to intelligent supervision will enable a smarter, more precise approach that directly combats the frequent false positives.

 

 

From burden to breakthrough with AI

The extensive time and financial losses from false positives in mobile compliance are significant, but entirely preventable. AI-driven solutions currently exist that enable compliance teams to manage mobile communications effectively without sacrificing productivity or draining resources.

 

But, these can’t just be adopted blindly; AI needs to be introduced smartly.

 

Already, employees across sectors are utilising AI across routine tasks,  creating new compliance risks. This is particularly acute in financial services, with 77% of financial organisations concerned about employee AI usage risks. One-third report being ‘very concerned’.  To mitigate these dangers, organisations need to establish clear rules through a comprehensive AI compliance policy and guide their staff on the appropriate use of these tools.

 

Separately, developing in-house AI tools presents significant challenges, including extensive trial and error, technical complexity, and high risk of failure. Rather than investing substantial time and resources in building proprietary AI platforms, organisations can leverage the growing market of specialised compliance vendors offering proven, purpose-built AI solutions for mobile compliance. These established solutions eliminate development risks while delivering immediate, reliable results.

 

 

Choosing the right AI solution

While AI solutions require tailored approaches, organisations can identify optimal vendors through certain specific criteria.

 

Firstly, solutions must exceed basic functionality. AI implementation offers no value if limited to basic keyword flagging. It needs to delve deeper, delivering layered contextual analysis to spot trends and anomalies.  Advanced natural language processing and intelligent risk scoring can be used to significantly reduce false positives, enabling compliance teams to address more complex tasks.

 

Secondly, it must consider the privacy of your employees. This is a major concern, with 84% of staff feeling concerned about their personal conversations being captured alongside professional messages. A reliable solution would address this by enabling secure, contact-based filtering.  Here, employees can ensure only business communications are captured from their devices. On top of the privacy benefits, this would allow organisations to remain compliant without changing how they work, or how their customers prefer to work.

 

Investing in proven, reliable intelligent solutions allows organisations to not only address the challenges of today, but also be adaptable to the communication platforms of tomorrow.

 

 

Where to start with AI and mobile compliance

A perception gap exists between leadership confidence and operational reality. For senior leaders to close it, they need to address the shortcomings of their mobile compliance infrastructure - considering alternatives to ‘what we’ve always done’, and delving into the hidden costs in their current setup.

 

Organisations must transition from outdated systems to intelligent, AI-powered tools that match today’s pace of change. This shift is essential to resolve mobile communications compliance deficiencies.

 

The principle is straightforward: success comes from smarter solutions, not more of them.  

 

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Jamie Hoyle is VP of Product at MirrorWeb 

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and Supatman