SS&C Advent Embraces AI for Product Development

SS&C Advent is making a push to feature more artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technology in its product lines.

Robert Roley, general manager of SS&C Advent, says he wanted to figure out a way to provide more efficient workflows to clients while balancing their comfort level with the technology.

“We’re looking at how we can leverage more emerging technology, so I’ve made it a point that every product track would have a component around artificial intelligence, particularly machine learning. We think it has the ability to make big efficiency gains for our clients,” Roley says. “But we also want to get our customers comfortable with the technology, so we were looking for a more transparent way to show them how these insights came about using AI. We did experiment with other technologies—Google’s Tensor Flow is one example—but we felt that those weren’t transparent enough, so we built our own.”

The project began a year ago when Roley directed Advent developers to work AI—specifically, machine learning and natural-language processing (NLP)—into their product development plans. So, for example, Advent Tamale uses NLP to read research notes and then automatically tags and categorizes them. The Geneva portfolio and accounting management platform will also be rolling out a feature that uses machine learning to find patterns of exceptions and automatically alerts the appropriate manager.

Advent’s own developers are excited to work with AI, and Roley says that moving forward, they technology will be part of the design and strategy for all of the vendor’s product lines.

“We realized our team can build that. A lot of them were already playing around with artificial intelligence anyway, so we figure why not build that into our products and now we’re seeing they’re very excited to work with these technologies,” Roley says. “It’s also really helpful that we’re our biggest customers, so when we evaluate a use case for AI, we understand what each project needs.”

Geo Expansion

Advent is also focused on growing its international presence. Roley says it sees growth opportunities in the Middle East, South Africa, and Asia.

As part of this growth strategy, earlier this month Advent acquired Investrack, a client-engagement platform that allows customers to view their holdings. Investrack has a strong presence outside of North America and Advent had already distributed Investrack in its system prior to the acquisition. The two already shared several clients.