New AI and Finance Skills are Redefining Financial Jobs - Here’s How to Keep Up
Wondering how AI will impact jobs in the Financial Services sector?
A Stanford Graduate School of Business study on AI in accounting jobs found that AI is taking over repetitive work such as transaction classification, allowing accountants to focus on higher-value tasks.
The study also showed that accountants using AI support more clients each week and close monthly statements faster than those using traditional methods, without any measurable drop in quality.
The debate around whether AI will reshape work is no longer theoretical. In 2026, AI is firmly embedded in everyday Financial Services operations, and the businesses that adapt fastest will be best placed to compete.
As Dominic Bareham, Managing Director at Morgan McKinley Australia, puts it: “To thrive in 2026, organisations should adopt a proactive talent strategy. In hiring, it calls for redesigning recruitment processes to ensure that skills are at the centre of decision-making. Particularly in Financial Services, where transformation is rapid, this approach is critical.”
In our State of Recruitment in Financial Services guide, we explored how roles are changing across Australia.
To add perspective, we spoke with Nick Largent, Principal Consultant, Morgan McKinley Australia, who points to a clear shift in what employers should value most: not just output, but judgment, interpretation, and accountability.
Here are his expert insights on what employers, hiring managers and candidates should know:
1. Prioritise Interpretation Over Information Production
AI is reshaping Financial Services across lending, fraud detection, and customer engagement by automating manual, rules-based work. But the bigger change, Nick observes, is in how professionals are valued.
“Professionals are no longer valued for producing information but for interpreting it and turning it into decisions,” Nick explains.
In a regulated environment like Financial Services, this distinction matters significantly. Businesses do not just need people who can generate output. They need professionals who can apply context, challenge assumptions, and take accountability for outcomes.
2. Hire for Data Literacy, Not Just Tool Experience
The technical bar has clearly risen, but Nick is quick to point out that success is not just about learning new tools. It is about applying them in context. Data literacy, understanding model behaviour, and recognising limitations and bias are all increasingly important. So is the ability to translate technical outputs into commercial or customer outcomes.
While knowledge of tools like Python, SQL, and Power BI is now increasingly expected, the real differentiator is human judgment, shares Nick. “Knowing not just what a model can do but what it should do in a regulated customer-impacting environment, that's what separates capability from credibility,” Nick says.
3. Set Clear Expectations by Seniority
AI capability is no longer a niche skill. In Nick’s view, it has become a baseline expectation across Financial Services. However, expectations should vary by level. At the entry level, candidates should demonstrate hands-on experience with real datasets, use tools beyond Excel, and articulate business impact.
At mid-level, the focus shifts to applying AI and automation to real processes across lending, claims, operations, and customer experience. “At the senior level, it becomes more about governance, risk and strategic adoption,” Nick notes.
For employers, this means calibrating expectations carefully. The capability needed at each level is different, and hiring decisions should reflect that.
4. Get Realistic About the ‘Perfect’ Candidate
One of the biggest hiring challenges is the shortage of candidates who combine Financial Services expertise with advanced AI capability.
“I would say the reality is the profile is scarce, and in most cases it's unrealistic,” says Nick. “The organisations moving fastest are taking a more pragmatic approach, hiring for core strengths and building the rest.”
That could mean bringing in strong data talent and developing domain knowledge or upskilling existing teams.
Just as importantly, employers need to position roles correctly. “If a job is framed as a traditional role with a layer of technology on top, it may not resonate with the market,” Nick notes. The best approach would be to present it as something more modern, more strategic, and more future-facing.
5. Learn to Identify Genuine AI Capability
Since the AI explosion, almost all CVs seem to claim 'AI expertise’. “It's a pain point that a lot of clients that we work with reference”, Nick shares. According to him, the most effective way to assess capability is to go beyond surface-level claims and focus on real application.
Nick recommends asking candidates to walk through what they built, the problem they were solving, the data involved and the outcome that they achieved.
“In Financial Services, it's particularly important to probe around validation, explainability, and risk. I would say depth is the real differentiator”, Nick explains. “Strong candidates tend to become clearer under scrutiny, while weaker ones often struggle when asked to explain their thinking.”
6. Use Practical, Scenario-Based Assessments
Nick also recommends using scenario-based assessments. “Give candidates real-world problems involving imperfect or incomplete data and ask them to analyse, interpret and recommend a course of action” Nick suggests.
According to him, this skills based hiring approach tests not just technical ability, but also judgment, communication, and commercial thinking.
“For senior hires in particular, incorporating stakeholder-style discussions can be especially valuable”, Nick notes. In Financial Services, the key question is not just whether a model works, but whether it can be explained, defended, and operationalised.
7. Learn to Avoid the ‘Technology Trap’
There is a growing risk that businesses become so focused on technology that they overlook the importance of domain expertise, Nick cautions:
“Financial Services is a highly regulated and customer-sensitive environment. So without domain understanding, there is a danger of building solutions that are technically sound, but commercially irrelevant or worse that they're non-compliant,” Nick shares.
He adds: “We are already seeing cases where technically strong solutions fail because they don't align with regulatory expectations or business needs.”
Nick explains that the most effective hires bridge both worlds. They combine technical capability with industry knowledge and sound judgment, a rare but highly valuable mix.
8. Adjust Hiring for Learning Agility
As technology continues to evolve, hiring for expertise in a single tool is becoming less useful. What matters more is learning agility, Nick shares. “I would say what matters more is a candidate's demonstrated ability to learn quickly and apply new capabilities in a meaningful way,” he says.
For Financial Services employers, Nick finds this especially important because constant change is the norm, whether it comes from new systems, new regulations, or new business challenges.
“Learning agility is not just about curiosity. It's about consistently turning new knowledge into measurable impact so that the trait will remain valuable regardless of how the technology evolves,” he explains.
One of the most effective ways to assess this is during the interview process. Nick suggests asking candidates for specific examples of how they adapted to new technologies, regulatory changes, or evolving business needs — and how they delivered results.
Final Thoughts on Finding Talent With the Right AI and Finance Skills
Ultimately, AI is not replacing Financial Services professionals, it is redefining what makes them most valuable.
The organisations that succeed will be those that shift their hiring approach accordingly, by prioritising judgment over output, adaptability and learning agility over static skillsets, and real-world application over theoretical knowledge.
Want to learn more about the trends defining the Australian job market? Download our State of Recruitment in Financial Services guide – or speak to one of our consultants about your hiring needs.
