Information on AI input zone questionnaire

Reference Case Number: FOI2026/01704

Freedom of Information: Right to know request:

On 14 May 2026, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reopened its AI Input Zone exercise. The submission window closed on 19 June 2026. The FCA indicated that it may publish information derived from these responses to inform a good and poor practice publication.

Please provide the following recorded information held by the FCA relating to the AI Input Zone exercise closed on 19 June 2026:

1. Aggregate statistical data:
· The total number of responses received.
· A breakdown of respondents by sector and respondent category as recorded in submission forms.
· Counts of specific AI use cases or themes identified across responses.

2. Summary reports and thematic analysis:
· Copies of existing internal summary reports, thematic analyses, or overview tables produced from the submissions.
· This request excludes draft policy papers or staff correspondence.

3. Substantive narrative responses:
· Copies of submitted responses, formatted or anonymised in line with Section 348(4)(b) FSMA.

FCA response:

Question 1a

(a) The total number of responses received.

We received a total of 71 responses to the Input Zone exercise. An additional 8 submissions were received following the conclusion of the deadline.

Question 1b

(b) A breakdown of respondents by sector and respondent category as recorded in submission forms.

Please see the tables below for breakdowns of the 71 Input Zone responses by sector and respondent category. Please note that the 8 late submissions did not include sector or respondent information.

Sector	No of respondents
Asset management	4
Cross-financial services sector	39
Insurance	2
Investment	2
Lending and Credit	7
Non-financial services sector	3
Other	2
Other - Debt collection and debt purchasing	1
Other - Digital assets, tokenisation, and crypto-related activity	1
Other - Financial Services and Regulated Industries	1
Other - Mutual building society	1
Other - Professional Services	1
Other - RegTech / compliance technology provider.	1
Other - R&D, AI safety	1
Other - Technology provider — formally-verified software and assurance (cross-sector)	1
Payments	2
Wholesale markets	2

Respondent Capacity	No of Respondents
Representative of a professional firm	42
Representative of an authorised firm	10
Individual	15
Other - As a representative of a RegTech provider	1
Other - Founder of an early-stage AI assurance / runtime evidence technology provider	1
Other - Technology provider building AI-native governance and workflow infrastructure for regulated lending	1
Other - Technology provider developing evidence infrastructure for regulated-credit AI governance	1

Question 1c

Themes & Use cases	No of instances
Accountability and ownership	105
Audit trail and record keeping	81
Human oversight and review	81
Consumer protection and Consumer Duty	79
Explainability and transparency	69
Third-party and supply-chain risk	64
Monitoring and assurance	57
Operational resilience	52
Testing and assurance	47
Governance framework and lifecycle	46
Training and user guidance	44
Source traceability and transparency	38
Structured workflows and processes	35
Data governance and privacy	34
Controls and guardrails	27
Risk classification and assessment	25
Agentic AI Governance	24
Over-reliance on AI	23
Clear AI Role Definition	19
Model limitations	19
AI in Compliance and Risk	17
AI operating model and adoption	15
Cost/capacity constraints	14
Security and privacy controls	12
AI lifecycle governance	11
Bounded autonomy, access and permissions	10
Model Risk Management	10
Use case design and inventory	10
Deterministic controls	6
AI outputs	5
Clear Escalation Routes	5
Direct System Access Risk	5
Distinguishing AI Types	5
Schema and data validation	5
Separation of duties/execution and intent	5
Unsanctioned Pilots	4
Advice/guidance boundary	3
Conversational/voice AI	2
Development	2
Digital Identity	2
Economic and Operational Trade-Offs	2
Evidence	2
Good and Poor UI Design	2
Understanding	2
Acceptable-Use	1
Benchmarks	1
Classification	1
Compliance	1
Context Collapse	1
Customer-Journey	1
Datasets	1
Deepfake Fraud	1
Enterprise-Wide Risk Management	1
Environmental	1
Ethics-By-Design	1
Feedback Loops	1
Financial Guidance	1
Fraud Prevention	1
Integrity	1
ISO 27001	1
Joint Ico/FCA Guidance	1
KYC Automation	1
KYC/AML Controls	1
KYC/AML Data Quality	1
Leadership	1
Loan Origination	1
Transaction Monitoring	1

Question 2

2.Summary reports and thematic analysis:

Copies of existing internal summary reports, thematic analyses, or overview tables produced from the submissions. This request excludes draft policy papers or staff correspondence.

Question 3

3.Substantive narrative responses:

Copies of submitted responses, formatted or anonymised in line with Section 348(4)(b) FSMA.

The information we hold in respect of questions 2 and 3 can be found in the attached Annex A.

Supporting document

FOI2026/01704 Annex A[1]

Date of Release: 26/08/2026

Information on AI input zone questionnaire - August 2026