Financial markets operations: orchestrate, oversee & optimize

Operations functions already play a fundamental role in managing and maintaining relationships across clients which directly impacts the client experience, satisfaction and trust. This manifests across various stages of the client relationship, including initial engagement, KYC processes and onboarding, and matching and settlement of trades through to maintenance of positions or client query management. 

Looking to the future in an increasingly dynamic and competitive business environment, Operations has a larger and more proactive role to play – not only around how clients are served, but in actively shaping how the business grows, stays ahead of change and ultimately thrives in the long term. To this end, the function must embrace three foundational principles: Orchestrate, Oversee, and Optimize.

Orchestrate: reimagining the client journey

Together, Operations and the wider business should strive to orchestrate or mastermind the entire client journey from the initial engagement to managing the long-term client relationship. Operations should accordingly move from a process focus to a more client-focused growth mindset.

Orchestrating automated processes

As Operations evolves into a more strategic function, the focus is shifting from isolated automation efforts to orchestrating intelligent, end-to-end processes across the value chain. This means moving beyond task-level automation to designing connected systems that integrate technologies like RPA, AI, and data-driven decisioning. However, the path to seamless automation is not uniform across all products and processes. Some areas are more complex than others, particularly where standardisation is limited and manual touchpoints persist.

While vanilla products – such as bonds, options and swaps – have long benefited from standardised data, high volumes, and mature infrastructure, making them well-suited for straight-through processing (STP), structured products such as CLNs, ELNs and other bespoke combinations of asset classes introduce far more complexity. Their custom features, non-standard documentation and fragmented booking across multiple platforms generate significant manual intervention and operational risk. 

That is why orchestrating automated processes is especially critical here. To move the dial, firms must simplify their architecture and adopt common data models, such as ISDA CDM, to align product representation and eliminate inconsistencies across systems. Doing so not only enables meaningful automation but also lays the foundation for AI to unlock real-time insights, reduce exceptions and turn fragmented operations into a seamless, high-speed decision engine.

Lean, expert-led Operations

As simplified architecture and reforms like T+1 drive greater STP, the overall Operations footprint is expected to shrink. Middle Office functions will pivot to managing exceptions and breaks, with a smaller pool of onshore SMEs focused on high-value client needs. Group-wide shared services and consistent utilities will support streamlined processing across products, regulation and client service, enabling smoother handoffs and a more cohesive client experience.

Oversee: moving from reactive to proactive

Historically, Operations has played a vital role in ensuring things do not go wrong and reacting fast when something breaks. That is still important, but it’s no longer enough. Oversight needs a major update. Operations must prevent issues before they even surface.

It starts with smarter data and AI

Tomorrow’s Operations teams will harness the power of AI to go beyond basic monitoring. Think anomaly detection and real-time dashboards that tell you why something is happening, not just what happened. That means being able to act before a delay becomes a breach, or before a client flags a problem. AI can bring risks, however, from bias to explainability. Governing AI outcomes will be a key part of the oversight function, with teams owning models end-to-end: setting guardrails, monitoring performance, and ensuring compliance and client alignment.

Agile and integrated oversight

As regulatory requirements continue to evolve and diverge across jurisdictions, firms must adopt oversight frameworks that are adaptive, proactive, and capable of real-time response. Moving away from static rule sets toward agile compliance models is not only essential for managing risk but also a source of competitive advantage. Oversight is no longer confined to the Back Office, it is a shared responsibility across Operations, Risk, Legal, Technology and the Front Office. By aligning around common data and objectives, firms can enhance regulatory responsiveness, strengthen client outcomes, and reinforce institutional trust.

Future-proofing cryptographic resilience

With evolving encryption standards and the rise of quantum computing, firms must also be ready to adapt their cryptographic infrastructure without disruption. Crypto-agility maturity models help assess readiness, identify gaps and guide secure transitions. For institutions managing sensitive data, this is key to operational resilience, regulatory compliance and client trust.

Optimize: from process efficiency to client journey excellence

‘Optimizing’ Operations often conjures images of lean process maps, automation bots, or shaving seconds off a task. However. optimisation is no longer just about improving internal processes – it is about rethinking how we serve clients, start to finish, across every interaction, every touchpoint and every outcome.

Start with the full client journey

Modern Operations teams are not just focused on fixing breaks or processing trades faster. They are zooming out to look at the end-to-end client experience. That means breaking down silos between functions, digitising fragmented workflows, and creating seamless hand-offs across teams. Take client onboarding, for example. It is no longer acceptable for it to be a manual, prolonged process. The future is about digitally orchestrated onboarding journeys, automatically pulling in verified data, tracking status in real time and ensuring the client only ever has to “tell us once”.

Data-driven and AI-enabled optimisation

Optimization today demands more than process efficiency. It requires intelligent visibility. With 360° client analytics, firms are moving beyond monitoring basic KPIs to monitoring sentiment trends, client follow-ups, and service consistency across functions and regions. This empowers Operations to act proactively, anticipate issues, and support Relationship Managers in delivering a forward-looking client experience. As firms embrace AI, the shift from traditional RPA to agentic systems allows platforms to not only execute tasks but also make data-driven decisions, identifying risks, recommending solutions and alerting teams before service is impacted.

Shifting focus to high-value delivery

True optimisation frees Operations from routine interventions, allowing teams to focus on higher-value initiatives, from enabling new product launches to supporting strategic growth and delivering tailored service to key clients. In this model, Operations evolves from a process executor to a critical partner in shaping and sustaining differentiated client experiences.

Operations – the new driver of differentiation

As Operations embraces a more strategic role, the opportunity is not just to run better processes –it is to create better experiences and enable smarter growth. By rethinking how you orchestrate, oversee, and optimize client journeys, you are setting the stage for lasting impact. 

This is not about big bang change, it is about making deliberate moves: simplify where you can, invest where it matters and always keep the client at the centre. The firms that get this right will not just be more efficient, they will be more resilient, more responsive and better prepared for what is next. 

Now is the time to take a fresh look at where your Operations function can go and what is holding it back. Contact us to find out how Capco can help you embrace the Future of Operations.