JPMorgan again topped Evident's global leaderboard and pulled further ahead. Capital One and Royal Bank of Canada followed in second and third. Commonwealth Bank of Australia held fourth place and remained the lone Asia-Pacific bank in the top 10.
UBS Group AG took sixth, the only European bank in that upper bracket. DBS Group Holdings Ltd., the biggest bank in Southeast Asia, came in 25th.
Evident's AI Index tracks how major lenders turn heavy AI budgets into tangible results. It scores institutions on AI talent, research and patents, executive communications, and how transparently they roll out the tech. Looking across all 50 banks, Evident said AI capabilities progressed over the last 12 months at close to three times the speed of the average pace seen over the previous three years, marking the quickest acceleration since the index began in 2023.
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Banks are under pressure to prove record tech spending pays off, while questions linger about whether AI eliminates roles. Evident warned that firms unable to show returns risk seeing their AI efforts stall. It also noted leaders are using productivity wins both to expand the business and to wring out efficiencies. One example: Wells Fargo & Co. has been feeding 15 years of loan-decision data to AI assistants to automate the process, while underwriters continue to decide the outcome.
Banks continue to hire for AI roles, prioritizing support for the employees who rely on these tools. Evident highlighted JPMorgan, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Royal Bank of Canada as the top hirers. "Roles are changing, and some are not being backfilled, but the banks at the top of our Index are growing, and growing headcount," said Alexandra Mousavizadeh, who serves as co-CEO and co-founder at Evident. "This could be the start of the largest net job creation we have seen in decades." For everyday investors, the takeaway is simple: the banks out front are treating AI as a growth engine, not just a cost cutter, and they are staffing up to prove it.
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