The Shift: AI for Revenue in Banking
For years banks used AI mostly to cut costs and automate back-office tasks. Now leading institutions are using AI to create revenue streams. UniCredit’s DealSync is a clear example of AI being applied to M&A matchmaking to generate advisory fees and widen client reach.
UniCredit’s DealSync: An AI Solution for M&A Growth
DealSync was developed inside UniCredit’s Moonshot team, the bank’s innovation lab. It was driven by Sam Kendall, Head of Advisory and Financing Solutions, and Alessio Sulpizi, Head of Digital Innovation. The product targets mid-market M&A where discovery and fit are the biggest bottlenecks.
In plain terms, DealSync automates the matching of potential buyers and sellers by combining internal deal pipelines, market data, and signals from corporate disclosures and news. The tool surfaces candidates that human teams might miss and presents ranked matches for review.
Beyond the Match: How DealSync Creates Value
- Faster deal identification: AI reduces time to discovery, so bankers can act on opportunities earlier.
- More precise targeting: Similarity scoring and predictive models prioritize targets with higher conversion probabilities.
- Broader market reach: Aggregating external datasets expands the addressable universe beyond known contacts.
- Higher revenue per banker: By supplying higher-quality leads, DealSync increases advisory mandates and cross-sell chances.
Under the hood the system uses entity resolution, pattern recognition, and forecasting to surface proprietary deal signals. It integrates with bankers’ workflows through a simple dashboard and alerts, preserving human judgement for final outreach and negotiation.
The Future of AI in Financial Services
DealSync signals a strategic shift: AI moving from efficiency plays to direct revenue generation in banking. For other banks, the lesson is to pair data-driven models with front-line expertise. When AI augments client origination, it multiplies fee opportunities and creates measurable competitive advantage.
UniCredit’s approach shows how targeted AI products can turn analytics into growth, especially in mid-market M&A where information gaps create real commercial opportunity.
