Financial services leaders are being urged to take a collective, responsible approach to artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure it expands opportunity for women rather than reinforcing existing inequalities.
New joint research from Nationwide, Bain & Company and the Judge Business School, at the University of Cambridge, explores how AI is reshaping recruitment, progression and leadership pathways across the sector. The discussion paper highlights the potential for AI to either close representation gaps or entrench structural biases, depending on how it is designed, deployed and governed.
The findings come at a pivotal time. While women make up a significant proportion of the financial services workforce, they are under-represented, particularly in senior leadership roles.
At the same time, there is growing concern about the impact of AI on future job prospects and career progression. Research from the John Smith Centre’s UK Youth Poll (in partnership with Nationwide) found that 54 per cent of young people see the loss of jobs as the biggest threat posed by AI.
Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive of Nationwide Building Society and Women in Finance Champion, said: “AI is not just a technology choice for financial services, it is a leadership choice. Used well, it can help make recruitment and progression fairer, widen access to opportunity, and shine a light on talent that might otherwise be overlooked.”
The research suggests that, if carefully implemented, AI could help organisations make fairer, more consistent decisions by focusing on skills, performance and potential. It could also widen access to development opportunities such as mentoring and coaching, beyond traditional networks.
However, the report warns that without appropriate oversight, transparency and accountability, AI systems risk reinforcing the very biases organisations are seeking to address.
Nishma Gosrani, Partner at Bain & Company and one of the authors of the paper, said: "The pace of change in financial services is unlike anything we have seen. Agentic AI is no longer confined to back office automation; it is moving into the front office, becoming the first touchpoint with customers and reshaping the roles of advisers, underwriters and relationship managers. Yet only a small fraction of firms have truly embedded it into how they operate, and fewer still can evidence the value. Closing that gap demands rigour and governance, not just ambition. Get it right and AI becomes a source of trust. Get it wrong and it becomes a liability."
Feryal Erhun, co-author, and Professor of Operations and Technology Management and the Academic Director of the Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre, Cambridge Judge said: “As AI and automation accelerate, there is a real risk that women will be disproportionately disadvantaged, but there is also a genuine strategic opportunity to reset long-standing structural inequalities. That is precisely why this research matters. The question is how to ensure that women are the architects and governors of AI in finance services. Our aim is that this work provides institutions with a practical blueprint for ensuring AI becomes a force that closes, rather than widens, the gender gap in financial services and provides actionable insights.”
The organisations behind the research stress that collaboration across industry, academia and policy will be critical to ensuring AI supports fairer outcomes and long-term trust in financial services.
