Financial crime is evolving faster than ever, growing more sophisticated, automated, and harder to detect using traditional rule-based systems. In response, banks worldwide are turning to artificial intelligence not merely as a defensive tool, but as a strategic capability that reshapes how they operate, compete, and build trust with customers. Portugal has quietly become a meaningful hub in this transformation, home to Feedzai, a global leader in AI-powered risk management, and to banks that are among the most advanced adopters of AI for fraud and financial crime prevention anywhere in Europe.

This panel brings together two of Portugal's leading banks — Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Novobanco — to share how they have integrated AI into their financial crime prevention strategies, and what they've learned along the way. Manuel Fonseca Soares at Caixa Geral de Depósitos, and João Morais Fernandes of Novobanco, will discuss the practical realities of deploying AI at scale: balancing detection accuracy with operational efficiency, navigating regulatory expectations, and managing the trust implications of automated decision-making in a highly sensitive domain. The conversation will be moderated by a member of Feedzai's Research team, bringing a research-driven perspective to ground the discussion in both the current state of the art and the trajectory of where AI-driven financial crime prevention is heading.

Objectives

The panel aims to move beyond high-level narratives about "AI in banking" and offer a grounded, first-hand account of what it actually takes to adopt AI for financial crime prevention at two major institutions: the organizational, technical, and cultural challenges involved, and the measurable impact on both risk reduction and business operations. It is designed for a mixed audience of technical and business attendees at Lisbon AI Week, offering value whether someone is building AI systems, deploying them, or governing their use.

Expected impact

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