Teaching the Machines: Compliance Training for AI Agents in Financial Services

This IDC Perspective argues that AI agents should be treated as accountable participants in compliance. Institutions must provision agents with regulatory policies in machine-readable form, validate them through scenario testing and continuous monitoring, and enforce their compliance status through IAM systems. Like human employees, agents will require role-specific training, audit trails, and continuous updates aligned with regulatory change. Organizations that adapt early will gain regulator trust, reduce operational risk, and strengthen customer confidence, while those that lag behind will face heightened scrutiny and reputational exposure.Financial services organizations have long required employees to complete compliance training to meet obligations in areas such as AML, fraud prevention, data protection, and sanctions. With AI agents now embedded in daily operations, these same compliance expectations must extend beyond humans. Agents act on behalf of employees, make decisions, and execute tasks that carry regulatory and reputational risk, making their compliance readiness essential."Compliance training is not just for people anymore," says Sam Abadir, research director, Risk, Financial Crime, and Compliance at IDC Financial Insights. "AI agents that act on behalf of employees must also learn, adapt, and prove accountability if they are to be trusted in regulated environments."