- The SFC’s first-ever survey on AI readiness shows that 30% of surveyed firms already use agentic AI and 25% are piloting it.
- 95% expect their AI use to accelerate over the next 12 months; its reach already spans front-, middle- and back-office activities.
- The SFC’s supervisory approach to AI is safety-first, human-anchored and collaboration-led.
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today published the findings of its first-ever Large Firm AI Readiness Survey, highlighting broad use of artificial intelligence (AI) across business and control functions, alongside challenges to scaling its use responsibly (Note 1).
Conducted between July and August 2026, the survey covered 20 large financial firms with 78 affiliated licensed corporations in Hong Kong (Note 2). Their responses indicated that AI use is extending across business and control functions, becoming more closely integrated with internal systems and, in some applications, operating with greater autonomy.
Notably, agentic AI (Note 3) is gaining traction with major use cases covering information retrieval, drafting, software development, operational workflows and some trading-related activities, according to the report. 30% of the surveyed firms already use agentic AI in their business operations and 25% are piloting it, with varying degrees of autonomy and human involvement.
Other key survey findings:
- AI adoption is gaining momentum, as 95% of firms surveyed expect their AI use to accelerate over the next 12 months. Its reach already spans front-, middle- and back-office activities, and it is increasingly integrated with 90% having connected AI tools to internal systems.
- Firms are leveraging AI for cyber defence, with 90% using or evaluating frontier AI models for this purpose and reporting benefits in faster analysis and broader detection coverage.
- Practical barriers to broader adoption include technology integration, the transition from pilots to production use, costs and uncertain business value, data constraints and shortages of skills. Firms also face challenges in extending governance and controls across growing applications, as well as maintaining clear accountability and human oversight.
The survey findings will inform the SFC’s supervisory approach to AI, with four priorities: (i) protecting investors as AI reshapes their interactions with firms; (ii) strengthening cybersecurity and operational resilience as AI introduces new threats and dependencies; (iii) ensuring effective AI governance by rethinking how human accountability and oversight are embedded in increasingly autonomous workflows; and (iv) building knowledge and capability through engagement and collaboration.
Dr Eric Yip, the SFC’s Executive Director of Intermediaries, said: “Our supervisory approach is safety-first, human-anchored and collaboration-led. As AI becomes more autonomous, we must put humans even more firmly in the driving seat.”
“Scaling AI takes more than powerful models and promising use cases. It takes reliable infrastructure, sound data, the right expertise and governance that keeps pace with the technology,” he added.
Firms are reminded to comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements to support the responsible adoption of AI in Hong Kong’s capital markets. The SFC will focus on preserving human accountability throughout AI-enabled business processes, with clear objectives, defined limits on access and authorised actions, and effective monitoring and intervention. Controls should be proportionate to an application’s authority and potential impact, rather than requiring manual approval for every output or action.
Notes:
- The report examines the firms’ use of AI in business activities and operational processes, the integration of AI with internal systems and firms’ plans for further adoption. It also explores how firms are adapting governance and risk management arrangements to wider AI use, and the challenges to responsible adoption. Anonymised findings are presented based on firms’ own responses, rather than independent assessments of their systems or control effectiveness. Expectations of increased adoption reflect firms’ current intentions.
- The survey covered 12 large global firms, five large Chinese Mainland firms and three large online retail brokers. Their affiliated licensed corporations collectively accounted for over 75% of securities transactions reported by all licensed corporations for the six months ended 30 June 2026. Responses were consolidated at firm level and reported capabilities may not apply to every affiliated entity or business line. The findings should not be taken as representative of all SFC-licensed corporations.
- Agentic AI refers to AI capable of autonomously determining and executing steps to achieve an objective, including accessing information or tools and, where authorised, taking actions with limited human direction.
