Key views on technology investment priorities for risk and compliance in 2026:
- Global State of RegTech report includes a survey of 300 compliance and risk decision-makers and 100 vendors on which technology initiatives will attract the greatest investment in 2026
- AI agents top the agenda, ranked in the top three by 92% of vendors but only 44% of institutions, the widest gap in the dataset
- Vendors are betting heavily on agentic AI while institutions focus on the data and infrastructure foundations needed to support it
Global State of RegTech report includes a survey of 300 compliance and risk decision-makers and 100 vendors on which technology initiatives will attract the greatest investment in 2026
The Global State of RegTech was produced by RegTech Analyst and Parker & Lawrence Research.
It draws on global surveys of 300 senior risk and compliance decision-makers at financial institutions and 100 RegTech vendors, supplemented by qualitative interviews with regulators, regulated entities and market experts.
The study incorporates deep-dive analysis across six risk and compliance domains and bottom-up market sizing built from 2026 spend data, population modelling and a review of 63 published market estimates.
Among the questions put to both groups was which technology initiatives they expected to see the greatest investment in financial institutions’ risk and compliance environments in 2026.
The figures shown represent the percentage of respondents who ranked each initiative within their top three.
AI agents top the agenda, ranked in the top three by 92% of vendors but only 44% of institutions, the widest gap in the dataset
The results reveal a striking divergence between what vendors anticipate and what institutions themselves expect.
AI agents and agentic automation ranked first overall, cited by 44% of institutions but an exceptional 92% of vendors, the largest gap in the dataset.
Predictive analytics and machine learning followed at 42% among institutions and 38% among vendors.
Advanced cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies ranked third among institutions at 38%, though vendors placed it considerably lower at 18%.
Modern data architecture was cited by 37% of institutions and 20% of vendors.
LLMs and generative AI stood at 35% and 52% respectively, with API-based integration at 33% and 52%.
Cloud migration was cited by 27% of institutions and just 8% of vendors.
Blockchain-based control followed at 24% and 5%, and graph and network analytics rounded out the list at 19% among institutions and 15% among vendors.
Vendors are betting heavily on agentic AI while institutions focus on the data and infrastructure foundations needed to support it
The 92% vendor figure for agentic AI is the most arresting data point in the chart.
It suggests vendors have made a concentrated bet on AI agents as the defining technology of the 2026 compliance landscape, one that institutions have not yet matched in their own planning.
That gap may reflect a difference in timelines rather than intent: vendors are by nature forward-leaning, tracking where momentum is building, while institutions tend to move more deliberately.
The stronger institutional showing for cryptography and modern data architecture points to a more grounded set of priorities, focused on strengthening the foundations that AI will ultimately depend on.
The data suggests both groups are right, but are looking at different parts of the same journey. Vendors see the destination; institutions are focused on making the infrastructure ready to get there.
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