Industry News

On August 4, 2026, the National Conference of Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) released its research brief, AI Adoption and Strategy in Public Pension Administration. The brief indicates that the public pension administration industry is optimistic about the potential of AI, but remains diligent about its implementation. Importantly, as AI adoption evolves, the priorities continue to support human judgment and risk management.

The key survey findings include:

• 58% of the respondents reported being optimistic or very optimistic about the impact of AI on defined benefit pension administration in the next 10 years;
• When AI is utilized, about 96% of the respondents cited that the main driver of decisions is human judgment;
• Over 60% indicated that the primary obstacle to AI expansion is a lack of internal technical expertise to evaluate and manage AI tools; and
• More than 40% are greatly concerned about cybersecurity vulnerabilities from AI systems or vendors.

According to NCPERS, “The overall pattern of AI adoption is one of cautious, productivity-focused experimentation. Lower-risk operational functions, such as member communication, customer service, and administrative tasks, show the highest rate of active AI use.”

The report is available here.