Over half of all new non-executive directors appointed to British financial services firms in the past year brought technology expertise, according to new research from EY. The share, at 52 percent, represents a 16 percent rise on the previous year as Artificial Intelligence continues to reshape boardroom priorities. While C-suite credentials remain near universal at 84 percent of appointees, technology expertise has become the most in-demand skill set, outranking corporate finance, accountancy and sustainability. The UK is also outpacing its European peers, where only 35 percent of board appointments added tech expertise.
The shift is most pronounced in insurance, which saw 67 percent of new appointments come from a tech background, more than double the prior year. In capital markets and banking, the figure held steady at 50 percent, while wealth and asset management rose from 29 percent to 44 percent. EY also reported an uptick in gender diversity among tech-literate appointees: 62 percent of new tech-savvy directors were women, helping lift the overall gender split in tech hires to 45 percent female and 55 percent male.
The trend comes as the sector faces mounting pressure to implement Artificial Intelligence and reinforce digital infrastructure. Martina Keane, EY’s UK and Ireland financial services leader, said tech expertise has moved from “nice to have” to “strategically critical,” adding that in the Artificial Intelligence era, data and digital infrastructure will increasingly define competitive advantage and sustainable growth. Yet many firms still lack the internal capacity to manage Artificial Intelligence risk and data strategy. EY’s latest confidence pulse survey found 52 percent of UK financial services leaders view their current approach to tech-related risks as adequate, while just under a quarter said they lack sufficient controls to protect against unauthorised access or corruption. The backdrop is a rise in data theft, with cyberattacks costing UK businesses over £10,000 on average per incident, according to Uswitch Broadband, and recent disruptions at M&S, Co-op and Jaguar Land Rover affecting production lines, suppliers and customers.
