Agents of change — speech by Sarah Breeden

BoE Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden at ECB Sintra Forum June 30, 2026: agentic AI reshaping finance at speed. Trading firms mostly use autonomous AI for lower-risk tasks but could change quickly. AI agents responding similarly to prompts could amplify volatility (herding). BoE experimenting with BIS Innovation Hub and Bundesbank on agent herding simulations. Exploring guardrails analogous to circuit breakers or kill switches for market-wide trading halt if faulty AI causes meltdown. 52% of finance firms already using agentic AI per Cambridge survey.