Less but better: The AI innovation split in financial services

“Less, but better,” was the working philosophy of renowned German industrial designer Dieter Rams, the Godfather of Functionalism. It guided his work creating everyday consumer items, each designed to subtly improve day-to-day life.

While Rams spent his career designing functional and efficient physical products, his philosophy of “Less, but better” can be applied to software, business models, and decision-making. It’s something we see our Gong users doing too, particularly in financial services.

I’m fortunate to meet savvy leaders who use Gong to grow their businesses, teams, and careers. Each employs this “Less, but better” mentality, whether they realize it or not. At Gong, we call these high achievers “Raving Fans” and recognize the individuals and teams who really push the limits each year with the Golden Gong Awards.

(Submissions are open for outstanding individuals and teams until July 31!)

One Raving Fan deployed Gong across a half dozen portfolio companies as an operating partner at a private equity firm. They’re a rare mix of a true operator, an investor, and a Wharton MBA, who consistently surprises me by always being a half step ahead.

They said Gong makes them more efficient and effective in their role by providing insights months before a board meeting. They know who’s an MVP, who needs coaching, and which competitors are emerging. Gong gives them indispensable, unfiltered insights. They couldn’t imagine returning to the days of waiting to get these kinds of insights.

We see similar behavior at the business-wide level, as well. The customer logos featured on Gong’s website are almost all backed by an innovator.

Think of Kevin at Anthropic, Alison at Brex, Jason at Chime, or Lisa at Experian. These leaders and others like them are achieving 50%, 60%, or more productivity improvements and increasing win rates by 25% with Gong. They’re all seeking “Less, but better” working models and solutions that compound in tangible ways, in real time, and over time.

The Gong Labs research team has seen the compounding effects of innovators, well, innovating in AI. Interestingly, this is most notable in financial services despite the sector’s skepticism of AI-driven insights.

Gong’s State of Revenue AI 2026 report revealed that those in the financial services industry are the most skeptical of AI. Just over half (56%) of financial services respondents "mostly trust" AI-driven insights, compared to 69% in healthcare and 62% across all other industries.

More strikingly, 13% describe themselves as skeptical, the highest skepticism rate in the dataset. This indicates that AI-centric solutions need to deliver extra value and intentionally earn trust to win over financial services leaders.

Yet despite the skepticism and industry-specific compliance, financial services professionals, on average, show the strongest revenue-level ROI.

Financial services respondents report the strongest hard revenue outcomes:

• 66% agree AI has increased overall revenue performance
• 60% say AI increased average revenue per client-facing revenue professional

These percentages top every other industry, including healthcare.

When financial services firms commit to AI, they get more value from it than other industries. This indicates we’re in the early stages of financial services innovators quietly compounding strong revenue-level ROI.

The term “The Great Bifurcation” was coined a few years ago, so I won’t use that for what I see happening in financial services. But I anticipate K-shaped growth will be more noticeable in financial services sooner than in other industries, as skeptics and an early majority of innovators separate.

The finance professionals I meet are innovating across organizations spanning asset management, banking, lending, payments, fintech, and insurance. These organizations range from 100 employees to 10,000+ employees. Whether a company is 10 years old or 100 years old, everyone is trying something new for the first time, and the proverbial white space is, however you want to define it.

Financial services are relationship-driven with trust as the guiding force. What I see is a shift from relationship-driven business to a relationship-plus-insights-driven business. Innovating to achieve a little edge to win is the goal, not overrotating on the technology itself, AI, or otherwise.

Less, but better, means focusing on attracting, hiring, and retaining the best talent in the market. Finding a Dieter Rams, or if you already have one, keeping them. If you manage a team, invest in solutions, like Gong, that encourage and elevate your entire team to innovate.

If you’re an individual contributor, focus on innovation, whatever that means for your role. The data shows that, over time, you will do more: more revenue, higher ROI, greater growth.

So instead of asking, “How do we do more with less?” Just do the thing. And, like a meditation mantra, repeat the answer:

Less, but better.

Less, but better.

Less, but better.