Duco publishes best practices on AI adoption in post-trade operations

Duco Technology on Wednesday said the latest offering is built on the firm’s previous reconciliation maturity model with clearly defined governance framework.

“Many firms are still grappling with manual processes and rigid legacy tech. Adding AI to that mix in an experimental phase, without a clearly defined governance model and enterprise-wide strategy can increase opacity and risk while simultaneously reducing efficiency and automation," the fintech firm said in a release. "The Agentic Maturity Model gives firms a structured framework to move beyond this status quo.”

The model maps five distinct stages of agentic maturity. Duco said the framework outlines the operating model, AI adoption profile, people model, control environment and performance characteristics for each stage, alongside concrete steps to advance to the next stage.

James Maxfield (pictured), chief client officer of Duco, said: “Many financial firms have bought into pilots, but without a proper governance framework, AI tools can run ahead of the firm's control environment. The result is a false sense of progress: more AI activity, but no meaningful reduction in manual workload, operational risk, or cost. By deploying governed AI solutions, clients can access the full promise of agentic capabilities.”

The model emphasises a shift in how firms conceptualise reconciliation itself, Duco said, adding that the framework makes the case for a data-centric operating model built around proactive controls.

"The practices followed today have been shaped by systems that haven't changed much in decades," said Maxfield. " Our maturity model gives firms the language and the roadmap to stop patching gaps and start building a genuinely different operating model."

The London-based fintech in May launched its agentic operations platform with capabilities to run post-trade operations alongside autonomous agents.