Will financial examiners be replaced by AI?
Updated
Financial examiners score 49 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 66%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 13% outright, and 21% stays with people.
- 13% AI can do it
- 66% AI helps
- 21% Needs a person
Moderate exposure
Higher than 72% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 17 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 2 of them today, speeds up 11 and leaves 4 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Prepare reports, exhibits, and other supporting schedules that detail an institution's safety and soundness, compliance with laws and regulations, and recommended solutions to questionable financial conditions. AI can draft reports and schedules; examiner reviews findings. | 70% AI can do it |
| Examine the minutes of meetings of directors, stockholders, and committees to investigate the specific authority extended at various levels of management. AI extracts authority decisions from minutes; examiner confirms findings. | 65% AI can do it |
| Review and analyze new, proposed, or revised laws, regulations, policies, and procedures to interpret their meaning and determine their impact. AI summarizes new rules quickly; legal interpretation stays with humans. | 65% AI helps |
| Review balance sheets, operating income and expense accounts, and loan documentation to confirm institution assets and liabilities. AI extracts and checks balances from statements and loan files. | 60% AI helps |
| Review audit reports of internal and external auditors to monitor adequacy of scope of reports or to discover specific weaknesses in internal routines. AI summarizes audit reports and flags weak control language. | 55% AI helps |
| Evaluate data processing applications for institutions under examination to develop recommendations for coordinating existing systems with examination procedures. AI aids system documentation and analysis; technical judgment stays human. | 50% AI helps |
| Recommend actions to ensure compliance with laws and regulations, or to protect solvency of institutions. AI drafts compliance recommendations; examiner judges and is responsible for them. | 45% AI helps |
| Establish guidelines for procedures and policies that comply with new and revised regulations and direct their implementation. AI drafts procedures; leaders decide and direct implementation. | 45% AI helps |
| Provide regulatory compliance training to employees. AI builds training content; trainers deliver and answer questions. | 45% AI helps |
| Review applications for mergers, acquisitions, establishment of new institutions, acceptance in Federal Reserve System, or registration of securities sales to determine their public interest value and conformance to regulations, and recommend acceptance or rejection. AI screens applications against rules; public interest call stays human. | 45% AI helps |
Show the other 7 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Investigate activities of institutions to enforce laws and regulations and to ensure legality of transactions and operations or financial solvency. AI flags issues in records; investigation needs human judgment. | 40% AI helps |
| Train other examiners in the financial examination process. AI drafts training materials; trainer delivers and coaches in person. | 35% AI helps |
| Resolve problems concerning the overall financial integrity of banking institutions including loan investment portfolios, capital, earnings, and specific or large troubled accounts. Complex solvency judgment calls; AI supports analysis only. | 30% AI helps |
| Direct and participate in formal and informal meetings with bank directors, trustees, senior management, counsels, outside accountants, and consultants to gather information and discuss findings. Live meetings with bank executives require human judgment and presence. | 15% Needs a person |
| Plan, supervise, and review work of assigned subordinates. Supervising staff is people-centered and accountability-bound work. | 15% Needs a person |
| Confer with officials of real estate, securities, or financial institution industries to exchange views and discuss issues or pending cases. Live talks with industry officials need human presence and trust. | 12% Needs a person |
| Verify and inspect cash reserves, assigned collateral, and bank-owned securities to check internal control procedures. Physical counting and inspection of cash and collateral needs presence. | 10% Needs a person |
How financial examiners compare
All occupations (923)
Business and financial operations (48)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $94,160 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 67,830 in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- +9.3% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Run SQL queries against institution loan and deposit records
- Count cash reserves and inspect pledged collateral on site
- Reconcile balance sheets and loan files in Microsoft Excel
- Interpret new banking regulations and their impact on institutions
- Present examination findings to bank boards in Microsoft PowerPoint
Safer roles nearby
2 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about financial examiners and AI
Will AI replace financial examiners?
Partly. About 4 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly drafting examination reports and reviewing board minutes. Cash counts, live meetings with bank executives, and staff supervision stay with examiners.
Which tasks is AI taking from financial examiners?
Report drafting (exposure 70) and minutes review (exposure 65) are the two tasks AI takes over most. AI now drafts safety and soundness reports and supporting schedules, and extracts authority decisions from board and committee minutes. The examiner still confirms each finding before it goes into the examination file.
Which tasks stay with financial examiners?
Cash and collateral verification, live executive meetings, and staff supervision. Counting cash reserves and inspecting collateral need a person on site. Meetings with bank directors and senior management depend on live judgment and trust, and supervision keeps accountability with the examiner.
How can financial examiners stay valuable?
Sign off on every AI draft after checking the records behind it. Run SQL queries and Microsoft Access checks on institution data, reconcile balances in Excel, and interpret new rules yourself. Count cash and collateral on site, and train new examiners in person.
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