The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it has received hundreds of applications for two senior artificial intelligence roles, as the UK regulator develops automated tools to monitor financial crime and supervise thousands of firms.

Jessica Rusu, the FCA’s chief data, information and artificial intelligence officer, told Bloomberg at an event in London on Monday that candidates were attracted by the opportunity to tackle “fascinating and interesting problems”, despite potentially higher pay at AI companies.

The regulator recently closed applications for a head of agentic AI and data science research and a head of department for AI and technology security operations. The former role offered salaries of £140,000 to £190,000 in London, or £126,000 to £171,000 in Leeds or Edinburgh, with the second position advertised within the same salary range.

The recruitment drive forms part of the FCA’s ambition to expand its use of AI while overseeing its adoption across the 35,500 firms under its supervision.

Rusu said the watchdog was developing AI tools to monitor anti-money laundering controls at an additional 60,000 firms, as part of a new responsibility that comes into effect in 2028. The regulator is also deploying automated and agentic AI agents to help supervise approximately 9,000 small wholesale market firms that report transaction data.

The FCA is encouraging financial services businesses to adopt appropriate safeguards as they introduce AI into their operations. Rusu called on firms to help consumers understand the limitations of financial information and advice generated by AI models through “clear, proportionate and consistent disclaimers”.

Cybersecurity is another area of focus, with the regulator working with financial services firms on their defences against risks associated with AI. Security concerns surrounding Anthropic’s Mythos model earlier this year have highlighted the challenges facing organisations adopting the technology.

“AI is moving faster than any regulatory framework was designed,” Rusu said, adding that regulators would increasingly need to make decisions without precedent while maintaining trust in financial services.

The FCA is also confronting a rise in AI-enabled fraud, including deepfake videos promoting fraudulent investment opportunities. Rusu said the regulator would pursue more financial crime investigations if it had unlimited resources, warning that such fraud “really undermines growth”.

---