AI moves from prototype to production in operations
Banks arrive at Sibos 2026 asking one question about AI: where does it create measurable value? Thomas Steinborn, Chief Product & Technology Officer at Smartstream, says AI is moving beyond prototypes, with some Smartstream customers already in production and starting to realize value. Conversations with customers start with the business case, not the technology.
For Smartstream that business case centers on reconciliations. Large operations teams need to save time and work more efficiently, from internal operations through to the counterparty. Smart Reconciliations and Smart Agents address exactly this.
Agentic AI needs guardrails before autonomy
AI has been around for eight years, but what it can do has changed in recent months. Early in the year most people used a copilot for personal productivity. With the latest models, goal-oriented agents can now devise plans and carry them out. In capital markets and banking, that autonomy only works with proper controls and guardrails.
Steinborn’s answer is to apply the same guardrails used for human teams, such as four-eyes and six-eyes approvals, set according to risk profile and exposure. The tension between opportunity and risk is where the industry is focused today, and it is why policy-controlled agentic AI from Smart Agents includes human-in-the-loop checkpoints and a full audit trail.
Tokenization, smart contracts and what launches in November
Beyond AI, the second big Sibos theme is tokenization and DLT, especially for collateral. Handing over collateral physically is inefficient, while tokenized collateral lowers cost and improves margin for both sides. Smart Collateral supports this shift. Steinborn also expects AI agents and smart contracts to converge: instead of a monthly invoice, agents could settle a microtransaction on every query as settlement pressure and volumes rise.
Smartstream is bringing these ideas into the product. Its investigations use case goes to market in November 2026, alongside near real-time reconciliation that scales volumes up and down to lower total cost of ownership. Explore Smart Reconciliations and watch the full interview above.
