It began quietly. A few meeting bots here, a transcription assistant there. However, in less than two years, AI has progressed from recording minutes to actively participating in the conversation.
Now, as machine-generated summaries, action points, and even recommendations flow through business channels, a new governance frontier has emerged, one that’s testing the limits of compliance across the world’s most regulated industries.
According to Theta Lake's 7th Annual Digital Communications Governance Report, based on data from 500 IT and compliance leaders in the financial services sector, 99 percent of firms are expanding AI in their unified communications ecosystems. Yet 88 percent say they’re struggling to govern AI-generated data and communications.
The rise of what Theta Lake terms “aiComms”; content produced by, or in collaboration with, AI, is now reshaping how risk, accountability, and compliance must be managed.
From Chat to Chaos: Understanding Risk and Compliance in the AI Era
The average financial firm now operates on six communication platforms, and the number using ten or more has more than tripled in a year. Each generates data with different retention, export, and security rules. Layer AI on top, from automated meeting summaries to synthetic assistants, and a single conversation can splinter into dozens of untracked data points.
Devin Redmond, CEO and co-founder of Theta Lake, said:
“Trying to bolt legacy compliance tools onto modern communication platforms is no longer sustainable. The volume and complexity of communications — now including AI participants — demand a unified, cloud-native governance model.”
The implications are far-reaching. Regulatory fines for “off-channel communications” already exceed billions in the financial services sector, and two-thirds of firms fear that employees are still using unmonitored apps. In parallel, 86 percent are increasing their compliance budgets, a rare consensus in a space under constant cost pressure.
When Legacy Compliance and Risk Meet the AI Age
Despite heavy investment, 62 percent of organisations admit they can’t easily reconstruct cross-channel conversations for investigation or audit. Nearly half struggle to migrate on-premise recordings to the cloud while maintaining chain-of-custody integrity.
Industry analyst Irwin Lazar, President at Metrigy, says this pattern extends beyond finance: “More than 65 percent of companies plan to increase spending on security and compliance to keep up with growing AI threats. Over 90 percent have either established or plan to establish a dedicated strategy for AI compliance.”
