AI agents are stuck in pilot mode because banks still do not trust them

The article argues that agentic AI in finance faces a bigger adoption barrier from institutional trust and infrastructure than from model capability. Citi’s April 22 Citi Sky rollout highlighted practical limits — notably memory constraints and hallucinations — that create operational and compliance risks for delegating financial tasks. Deloitte survey data show strong belief in widespread adoption (80.5% expect agentic AI as standard within five years) but low current use (13.5%). Ethereum is drafting ERC-8004 and ERC-8183 to provide on-chain identity, reputation, and escrow primitives, potentially enabling verifiable agent markets while exposing risks of reputation inflation. McKinsey projects large market upside but warns of “pilot purgatory” and governance gaps. Market impact: cautious institutional adoption likely to slow large-scale deployment, increasing demand for on-chain standards, auditability, and regulation before agentic AI drives significant trading or custody innovation.