Welcome to Part 2 of our blog series on how Fund Recs is leveraging AI to simplify and enhance our client experience. In Part 1, we shared why AI matters to us, our development approach, and how we prioritize security and data privacy. You can find it here.
In this post, we’ll dive into the AI use cases we’ve already implemented, explore our roadmap for future capabilities, and discuss how we’re ensuring our clients are fully equipped to benefit from these advancements.
Current Use Cases: Solving Real Challenges with AI
Our AI-driven initiatives are designed to tackle real-world challenges faced by our clients. These solutions focus on improving efficiency, reducing manual work, and enhancing user experience in practical and impactful ways.
- Template Automation with AI
In Fund Recs, templates are a set of no-code, natural language-based rules that are used to ingest, normalise, and enhance incoming data. They are the backbone of our data layer and are designed to be intuitive for non-technical users. However, like any software, there’s a learning curve in understanding rule names and their functions.
To simplify this, we’ve launched an AI Assistant within the template builder. This innovation allows users to create templates using straightforward natural language prompts. Instead of manually adding multiple rules in sequence, users can simply describe their desired outcome, and the AI assistant generates the necessary rules automatically. This makes template creation faster, more accessible, and user-friendly.
- Workflow Summary
AI takes the complexity out of workflow management by generating natural language summaries of template rules. These summaries help users understand the intricate transformations being applied to their data, ensuring transparency, simplifying reviews, and streamlining audits.
- Streamlined Data Mapping
Data mapping has traditionally been a labour-intensive and error-prone task, but AI is transforming this process. During template setup, AI automatically matches incoming data fields to their required mappings for use downstream, significantly reducing the time spent on manual mapping. For larger files with dozens or even hundreds of mappings, this feature has proven to be a major time-saver, enabling more accurate and efficient workflows.
- Support
We provide 24/7 chat support within our product through Intercom. Our average (human!) response time to a client query over the last 90 days is about 5 minutes, which is industry leading in and of itself. But what if we could get that to 5 seconds?
More than half of client queries we receive are what we call "how-to" questions—users seeking guidance on the next step or clarification on a specific rule. Our AI support assistant will handle these routine queries instantly, giving clients near-instantaneous responses. When people think of chatbots they usually think of traditional versions that rely on predefined keywords and rigid scripts. Intercom’s AI chat support uses advanced natural language processing to understand context and nuance, delivering accurate, context-aware answers. And for more complex issues, users can always connect directly with our Client Solutions team who are still only a click away.
Future Use Cases: Expanding the Possibilities
The future of AI at Fund Recs is focused on making our platform even more intuitive, accessible, and powerful. Here are some of the areas we’re excited to explore:
- Large Document Processing
We’ve completed a proof of concept for large document processing, in which AI has demonstrated its ability to extract key data points from lengthy documents such as loan agreements. This capability significantly reduces the time required to sift through hundreds of pages to locate relevant information. While still in its early stages, this use case has already shown immense potential to transform how our clients manage large-scale documentation.
- Natural Language-Driven Workflows
We envision a future where clients can design entire workflows using simple language prompts. Our goal is to eliminate the need for technical expertise and empower new users to set up workflows without any prior training. This innovation will make our platform truly accessible, regardless of a user’s technical background.
- Matching and Data Validation Rule Setups
Validation and matching rules help clients categorize rows of data into statuses like Matches or Breaks. Currently, these rules are built using a set of Fund Recs commands. By leveraging natural language processing, we aim to simplify this setup process even further, allowing clients to create and apply rules with ease, boosting both efficiency and accuracy.
- Auto matching
AI has the potential to fundamentally change the way data is matched during reconciliations. By analysing historical patterns and using machine learning, AI can identify likely matches between datasets quickly and accurately—even when discrepancies such as formatting issues or partial matches are present. This will not only reduce manual intervention but also enable clients to resolve breaks with confidence, saving valuable time and effort.
Keeping Clients Informed
We know that new AI features are only valuable if our clients can use them effectively. That’s why we prioritize keeping clients informed and equipped through:
- Comprehensive Documentation: Every AI feature will come with detailed user guides, FAQs, and tutorials.
- Release Notes: With each product update (currently on release 106), our Product team shares detailed notes so clients are always aware of what’s new.
- Interactive Training Sessions: Hands-on training ensures users can take full advantage of new capabilities.
- Dedicated Support: Our Client Solutions team is always on hand to address questions and provide guidance.
By fostering a culture of transparency and collaboration, we’re making sure our clients are not just adopting AI but fully embracing its potential to drive meaningful improvements in their daily workload.
Keeping clients empowered
We recognize that our current and future clients will have varying perspectives on what’s acceptable when it comes to AI integration. In certain use cases, there may be risks of AI producing hallucinated or incorrect responses. For some, these risks are manageable as long as proper review processes are in place and confidence scores are provided where applicable. For others, a tool that is 99% accurate might still fall short of their expectations. The level of risk acceptance will not only depend on the specific use case but will also differ across client segments. For example, a Fund Admin completing a Position Rec as part of the NAV calculation will likely have a lesser risk appetite than a Manager completing the same Rec as part of their oversight function. For these reasons, we’ve made our AI capabilities opt-in, allowing each client to choose the level of risk they are comfortable with.
Conclusion: Continuing the Journey with AI
At Fund Recs, our work with AI is grounded in practicality and a clear focus on making life easier for our clients. We’re excited about the opportunities ahead.
AI is constantly evolving, and we’re committed to evolving with it, thoughtfully integrating new advancements that align with our mission to simplify the use of data in the Funds industry. Our focus remains on building tools that are intuitive, reliable, and add real value for the people using them every day.
As we continue on this journey, collaboration with our clients will remain central to everything we do. Their feedback and insights will guide our efforts to ensure AI features meet their needs while maintaining the high standards of transparency, security, and usability they expect from us.
We’re looking forward to the next phase of this journey and to creating even more ways for AI to reduce complexity, save time, and improve the overall experience on our platform.
