the shift is so user-driven, it will inevitably end up becoming part of day-to-day investment processes, one way or another.”
‘ Not the holy grail’ Demonstrably, AI has infiltrated all sectors of capital markets, and the buy-side is no exception. According to SimCorp’ s recent 2026 InvestOps report, 70 % of buy-side firms surveyed are actively deploying AI to support their front office operations.
This marks a stark contrast from the survey’ s 2025 iteration, which revealed that only approximately 10 % of respondents were actively exploring AI tools, although 75 % recognised AI’ s potential. These findings indicate that 2026 is already proving itself as an inflection point for AI’ s surge across capital markets, as more and more buy-side firms are looking to incorporate it into their operations in some way.
Despite this, AI deployment
“ If you think about that with that whole phrase‘ garbage in is just garbage out’. Well, it ' s not actually in our world, it ' s a compliance event- it ' s a breach, it ' s a fine.”
DEAN MCINTYRE, CCO, SIMCORP is not uniform across the buyside, and many firms are still in staggered stages of integration and usage. For some larger asset managers and hedge funds, large scale automation and implementing proprietary models, such as generative and predictive AI, may be more of a focus than for smaller firms, which appear to be prioritising operational efficiency when it comes to AI integration.
For some across the industry, this may raise questions around whether it is possible to avoid
AI integration entirely. However, this appears to be unlikely given the current landscape.
Speaking to The TRADE, Consigny predicts:“ Within three to five years, most firms, whether discretionary or systematic, will have some kind of AI component embedded in their investment process. The larger the organisation, the more difficult the transition can be because of governance, controls and policy frameworks. But on the other hand, I think it’ s one of the few technologies where adoption is also being driven directly by end users themselves.”
Amid this inevitability, many buy-side firms are beginning to integrate AI into their trading desks and workflows, however, reluctancy remains around giving AI agents and systems full autonomy over
32 // TheTRADE // Q2 2026