AI Leadership Insights: Financial Crime Prevention

In this interview, Amanda Razani speaks with David Caruso, VP of financial crime compliance at WorkFusion, about the role of AI in combating financial crimes. Caruso explains that WorkFusion develops AI agents that assist financial institutions with compliance tasks, such as sanction screening and Know Your Customer (KYC) processes. These tasks are often labor-intensive and costly, but AI can perform them more efficiently and at lower cost. He highlights how AI automates onboarding processes by extracting data from documents and identifying patterns that may suggest suspicious activity—capabilities that significantly enhance fraud detection and regulatory compliance.

Caruso elaborates on how AI is transforming multiple layers of financial crime investigation. While basic, or “level one,” tasks involve sorting through transactions and flagging suspicious behavior, AI is also advancing into “level two” work—such as identifying complex fraud patterns and drafting compliance reports using large language models. He emphasizes the efficiency AI provides by freeing up investigators to focus on decision-making rather than data collection. However, he also cautions that threat actors are leveraging AI to create realistic fake identities and exploit fast payment systems, making it even more critical for institutions to modernize their detection capabilities.

When asked about challenges in AI adoption, Caruso notes that while regulations require institutions to innovate, they also demand thorough governance and slow down implementation. As AI evolves rapidly, banks must balance innovation with caution to avoid increasing risk or falling behind. He predicts that AI will not only change how compliance operations function, but also shift the skills needed in the workforce. His key takeaway is that AI’s impact is no longer theoretical—it’s happening now, and institutions that don’t adopt AI risk falling dangerously behind in a highly regulated industry.