Rocket Software Study Reveals 94% of Financial Services Leaders Rank AI as a Top IT Priority

London, England, July 28, 2026 — According to the new ‘Mainframe AI Study’, AI is now a top priority within enterprises, with 94% of financial services IT leaders ranking the enhancement of IT operations with AI as a high or top priority. Commissioned by Rocket Software, a global technology leader in modernization software, the Study surveyed organisations from the U.S., UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, in the banking and financial services industry.  

The research reveals a maturing market, with 83% of respondents increasing their AI investments for IT operations and cybersecurity in the past year, with 38% reporting significant increases. Having moved beyond the hype cycle, 42% of organisations say they are running AI in production at scale across multiple teams and systems.  

However, the study also reveals points of friction, as organisations work to expand their AI adoption. Indeed, while starting out appears less of an issue, 40% of organisations say initiatives stall while scaling organisation wide.

This is often due to security, compliance and governance considerations, which appear to be the primary guardrails for enterprise AI deployment:  

• Regulation is still the brake pedal: 78% of respondents say that regulatory considerations significantly or extremely limit their ability to deploy AI  
• Auditability isn’t optional: 88% rate auditability as very or extremely important when adopting AI for IT operations and security  
• Governance controls top the trust checklist: Strong governance controls and approval workflows are cited as the number one requirement organisations look for before trusting AI in production  

The Rise of Agentic AI

43% of respondents say conversational AI is too dependent on prompt quality and user expertise for practical operational use. To bridge this gap, 43% of firms say they are already blending conversational and agentic AI, with usage skewing further agentic at larger enterprises (47% of $1B+ firms). Half of the organisations surveyed are ready to deploy agentic AI to detect anomalies and correlate signals across systems, making it the top-cited use case in the market.  

The Mainframe Skills Gap

Amid a significant skills shortage, with 81% of leaders calling their mainframe systems skills gap very or extremely significant, organisations are turning to AI. In fact, 87% of respondents believe AI will significantly or dramatically close the mainframe skills gap within the next two years. Most organisations report that mainframes strengthen their AI outcomes rather than limiting them. This positions the mainframe as an advantage when it comes to AI, dispelling the myth that legacy infrastructure hinders progress.  

As for the financial ROI of these deployments, 91% of respondents find AI-driven diagnostics credible for reducing mean-time-to-resolution (MTTR), expecting a 20%+ reduction when implemented well. When it comes to justifying further funding, compliance beats traditional cost-cutting, with 44% citing reduced compliance risk and easier audits as the top investment triggers.  

“Enterprise AI has clearly moved beyond the pilot phase, but scaling is where many organisations hit a wall, with regulatory, auditing and governance considerations common barriers,” said Neil Fowler, SVP of hybrid cloud engineering at Rocket Software. “As we move beyond the chatbot, advanced agentic AI solutions are proving they can support mission-critical systems.  

“What’s more, while the mainframe skills gap is a known challenge, this Study shows that the mainframe itself is an AI advantage. With the right AI partner and agentic platform in place, organisations can confidently scale their AI initiatives, reduce operational complexity, and modernise without disrupting existing systems.”

About the Study

Hanover Research surveyed 250 respondents across the banking and financial services sector in the US, UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands in June 2026.  

Learn more about these findings : The Trust Gap: How Regulated Enterprises Are Setting the Bar for Agentic AI.

About Rocket Software

Rocket Software is a global technology leader in modernization and a partner of choice that empowers the world's leading businesses on their IT and mainframe modernization journeys, spanning core systems to the cloud. Trusted by more than 13,500 customers and 850 partners, and with more than 3,000 global employees, Rocket Software enables customers to maximize their data, applications, and infrastructure to deliver critical services that power our modern world. Rocket Software is a privately held U.S. corporation headquartered in the Boston area with centers of excellence strategically located throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Rocket Software is a portfolio company of Bain Capital Private Equity.

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Media Contacts

Charlotte Martin, Emese Csikai, Jessica Cropley

FINN Partners UK, on behalf of Rocket Software

[email protected]