From Digital Friction to Strategic Agility – Why Data Automation Must Scale with the Business
By Neil Vernon, Chief Product Officer at Gresham
Mind the (Digital) Gap
A surprising number of respondents in our recent research weren’t complaining about AI models or data lakes – they were simply fed up with too many clicks. From excessive scrolling to labyrinthine navigation, the verdict was familiar: digital platforms may be clever, but they’re not always usable. And when technology gets in the way, transformation tends to limp rather than leap.
Automation: Not Just a Fancy Stopwatch
There’s a tendency to treat automation as a time-saver with delusions of grandeur – fewer clicks, fewer staff, fewer bills. But its real potential lies in making sense of enterprise data chaos. Done properly, automation brings consistency, structure, and a welcome sense of order to the sprawling datasets that most enterprises wrestle with daily. In our research, nearly half of respondents cited manual processes and inconsistent policies as key barriers to data quality. The issue isn’t lack of data—it’s the uneasy feeling that you probably shouldn’t rely on it without several disclaimers, a degree in Excel and a strong cup of tea.
Read more: A CTO’s guide to financial data automation
When 'After-the-Fact' Isn't Good Enough
As firms shift to highly-scalable cloud-native solutions , embedded controls have moved from ‘nice-to-have’ to ‘we-really-should-have-thought-of-this-sooner’. Post-hoc reconciliation simply doesn’t cut the mustard anymore. Controls need to be real-time, continuous, and where possible simple to use, simple to understand. We’ve seen this first-hand in capital markets environments juggling thousands of data feeds – from prices to positions to sustainability metrics. By embedding validation and reconciliation into ingestion, exceptions can be flagged before they turn into full-blown headaches. Less noise, fewer false positives, and ideally, fewer late-night calls.
Much like endless app menus kill user patience, fragmented data controls quietly strangle transformation. Automation oils the gears. It tidies up the mess. It gets you from data to decision without the drama.
Agility Begins with Trust (and a Good System)
When asked about transformation priorities for the next 12 to 18 months, firms pointed to predictive insights, real-time data use, and onboarding that doesn’t feel like assembling flat-pack furniture. These depend not just on data – but on data you’d be willing to bet your business on. Automation helps here too. It doesn’t sideline human judgement – it supports it, by clearing away the spreadsheet detritus and delivering timely, reliable insights. In the right hands, it even turns compliance from an obligation into a competitive advantage. To remain nimble, adopt AI responsibly, and deal with markets that refuse to sit still, organizations need more than just data. They need data that’s consistent, contextual, and – on a good day – even helpful.
Final Word
At Gresham, our data automation platform is built to scale with your business. Whether you’re preparing for AI, managing complexity, or simply trying to get through Monday morning without a reconciliation crisis, we’re here to help. Less noise. Fewer clicks. More control. Tea optional.
