This bank is using AI versions of its analysts to meet clients’ demand for videos

Big banks are using artificial intelligence not just behind the scenes — but also in front of the camera.

Bank of America uses a system called “Banker Assist” to pull together information and give tailored insights to each client. Goldman Sachs has “GS AI Assistant”, a kind of in-house ChatGPT for its employees. But Swiss bank UBS is taking things a step further.

Since January, UBS has been using AI-generated avatars of some of its analysts to explain their research directly to clients — through video. So far, about 36 analysts, or 5% of UBS’s research team, have signed up. These analysts cover everything from tech to consumer goods to energy.

This new move was first reported by The Financial Times.

To create the videos, UBS combines tools from OpenAI and Synthesia. The process is quick — the AI writes a script in seconds, which staff can then tweak before turning it into a talking avatar.

According to Scott Solomon, head of global research tech at UBS, the bank has actually been experimenting with analyst videos for about 10 years. But until now, they were limited to around 1,000 videos a year because of studio time and production capacity.

Here’s the thing: UBS analysts usually write two research notes per week, but they only had time to record video once every three months. That created a bottleneck.

Now, thanks to AI avatars, they can scale up. “This allows people to use video in a way they couldn’t before,” Solomon said.

Clients also prefer videos, he added. It gives them more flexibility in how they consume information.

Solomon even compared AI avatars to other tools analysts get on day one. “When an analyst joins UBS, we give them Excel, a writing platform, and a CRM to talk to clients. I want to give them an avatar too,” he said.

The goal is to fully automate the process — where an avatar video is generated automatically every time an analyst publishes a note, no manual editing needed. UBS hopes to make that happen by the end of the year.

Still, even if the process becomes fully AI-powered, UBS said analysts will always have the final say on whether the video accurately reflects their insights before it gets shared with clients.

Looking ahead, Solomon envisions avatars becoming a standard part of every analyst’s toolkit — just like spreadsheets and client tools. Eventually, they plan to integrate everything: the note-writing platform, the script generator, the avatar builder, and the client delivery system — all working together in one smooth process.

“We don’t want to create 50,000 videos a year,” he said. “But we do see a clear opportunity to produce more than we do today.”