Staff turnover puts post-trade expertise at risk
The loss of experienced operational staff is creating challenges for financial institutions as post-trade workflows become increasingly complex. In the white paper “The Institutional Knowledge Imperative”, Yogesh Shenai, Senior Product Manager at Smartstream, examines how staff turnover, offshoring and the growing reliance on junior employees are affecting the transfer of operational expertise.
The paper notes that 60-70% of back-office effort is spent resolving exceptions, while shorter settlement cycles such as T+1 add pressure to existing processes. Traditional rule-based automation has struggled with complex exceptions that require contextual knowledge and human judgement. The topic was covered in an article on PostTrade 360°.
Smart Agents capture and apply operational knowledge
The paper identifies agentic AI as a way to capture decision-making processes and apply them across operational teams. Smart Agents for AI-driven exception handling use existing procedures and historical resolution patterns to guide exception handling. The system retrieves information across systems, recommends resolution paths and records decisions, while analysts validate actions and retain oversight.
The white paper also sets out a roadmap for institutions to identify knowledge-heavy workflows, capture expertise and gradually introduce AI-driven execution, starting with areas such as cash breaks and securities settlement delays.
