Hong Kong AI Sandbox: 36 Pilots Explore Agentic AI in Finance

Hong Kong's financial regulators have chosen 36 projects for an expanded generative artificial intelligence sandbox. These projects will explore how agentic AI can be used across regulated financial services. What's interesting is that this first group involves 30 financial institutions and 27 technology partners. They were selected from nearly 100 proposals. The focus is on agentic AI, meaning systems that can perform tasks with a degree of autonomy. The tests will cover end-to-end processes like customer onboarding, payments, insurance claims, and customer interactions. The pilots will also look at how one AI system might oversee another. Technical trials are expected to begin later in 2026. Two participants have already outlined their plans. HKT Payment will work on an "Agentic ID" framework for registering and verifying AI agents that initiate payment activity. Ant Bank and Bettr will focus on a liquidity-risk management pilot, using a forecasting model to support daily cash-flow forecasts and treasury planning. These trials aim to develop new practices for AI-assisted financial services.