We caught up with Thomas shortly after his demo launch at Connect Americas 2025 to talk about Smart Agents, the future of agentic AI in financial operations, and how Smartstream is shaping a people-first approach to innovation.
“The value here is saving everybody’s time, making sure everyone can do more with the same amount of time,” Thomas Steinborn, CPTO.
Congratulations on the demo launch. For those who couldn’t attend, what exactly are Smart Agents?
Thomas: Thank you. It’s been an exciting milestone. Smart Agents are our latest step toward intelligent automation in financial operations. They’re designed to help teams move faster and work with much greater confidence. In their first release, Smart Agents support Investigations, where they simplify routine processes, reduce manual steps, and help analysts reach quicker outcomes. But the idea extends much further; they’re built to support a wide range of workflows across the operations desk.
Why do Smart Agents matter so much for financial operations teams right now?
Thomas: The value is simple: saving everyone’s time so they can achieve more with the same resources. Operations teams today are under pressure to resolve breaks faster, apply rules consistently, and manage exceptions cleanly. Smart Agents apply well-structured rulebooks and agentic intelligence to automate repetitive steps and guide analysts toward clear, confident resolutions. The outcome is speed, consistency, and a better overall experience. Not just for investigations, but for reconciliation and other operational processes too.
How does the user experience reflect that? What does it look like for someone working at the operations desk?
Thomas: We put a lot of emphasis on clarity and actionability. The dashboards surface breaks and changes immediately, so analysts know where to focus. When they step into a case, the system provides guided paths that make decisions quicker and more consistent. All of this is supported by clean data practices that improve accuracy over time. And with cloudification and SaaSification, accessing new capabilities is effortless, with no complex upgrades or disruptions. This focus on speed, performance, and usability ensures analysts and managers can do their jobs better every day and scale success across business lines.
You’ve mentioned before that your approach is people‑first. How does that shape the way Smart Agents are being developed?
Thomas: Honestly, it’s everything. In my first six months as CPTO, what struck me most was the trust and commitment across our teams. That kind of culture enables true innovation. I joined Smartstream because of the people I met, and that impression has held every day since. We’re building technology with the intention of making life easier for the people doing the work – analysts, managers, operations leaders – and delivering it in a way that accelerates adoption rather than complicating it. That people‑first mindset is shaping how Smartstream brings agentic AI and SaaS delivery to customers so innovation lands faster, adoption is simpler, and value is realised sooner.
Looking ahead, what can customers expect from the product roadmap?
Thomas: We’re staying focused on what matters most to operations teams: speed, performance, and daily usability. You’ll see continuous improvements in matching, break resolution, and investigations. You’ll see more practical agentic AI entering production workflows, always governed by transparent rulebooks and controlled decision guidance. We’re refining the UX to make everyday actions smoother and more intuitive. And with our push toward cloud and SaaS delivery, customers will be able to access new features faster, including enhancements across the Smartstream AIR suite. Underpinning all of this is a commitment to clean data and trust, essential for scaling automation in any financial environment.
Ready to Get Started with Smart Agents?
Smart Agents are available to help your team resolve more matches in less time, streamline exception handling, and simplify complex financial workflows. Get in touch to book a demo of Smart Agents, explore Smartstream Air for rapid reconciliation or speak to our team about SaaS deployment and roadmap features.
FAQs
- What are Smart Agents?
Smart Agents for Investigations are an AI-driven solution for augmented or autonomously handled exceptions for reconciliations and back-office processes, reducing manual effort and improving operational resilience. - How do Smart Agents speed up reconciliation?
They apply clear rulebooks and agentic decision support to resolve matches faster, reduce manual steps, and guide analysts through break management. - What’s the everyday benefit to operations teams?
Time savings, simpler daily tasks, improved consistency, and the ability to scale without adding headcount. - What should customers expect in 2026?
A roadmap focused on speed, performance, agentic AI, optimised UX, and SaaS delivery anchored in clean data and trusted automation. - How can we try Smart Agents?
Request a demo or contact Smartstream to discuss deployment options and integration paths.
