JULY 05 2024
Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the financial industry. Nordic Capital is actively working with its portfolio companies to drive data and AI more effectively. In this article, we dive into one of Nordic Capital’s portfolio companies and its work in this area.
Duco provides innovative technology that empowers end-users to consolidate, standardise, and reconcile any type of data in Duco’s cloud, addressing customers' mission-critical data management needs with its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering.
Earlier this spring, Duco, a leading SaaS provider of AI-powered data automation, announced a strategic collaboration with CIBC Mellon, which administers more than $2.8 trillion of assets on behalf of banks, pension funds, investment funds, governments, and insurance companies. The aim of this collaboration is to manage data more effectively while reducing operational risk and improving client experience. By harnessing AI-based automation, CIBC Mellon aims to ensure that its processes are exception-based and sustainable in the long run.
As a leader within its field, Duco regularly engages with its partners and customers to educate and debate new insights, best practices and potential risks with the use of large quantities of data and AI. Duco was an early champion for the use of AI and machine learning for data automation in financial services and have significantly expanded its capabilities with the recent acquisition of Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) innovator Metamaze in beginning of 2024.
Benefits of AI
Following the acquisition of Metamaze, Duco is introducing its new adaptive IDP (AIDP) capabilities for clients. AIDP is a next-generation document processing solution that harnesses the latest AI technologies and techniques to adapt to changes in document layouts and formats. It gives clients greater agility and enables the automation of a broad range of documents on a single platform, as opposed to many of the point solutions on the market.
Combined with the other capabilities on Duco’s no-code, cloud-based data automation platform, AIDP now enables the automated extraction and reconciliation of all types of data, from unstructured data in formats like PDFs, emails, faxes and images to structured data such as Rich Text Files, or Excel spreadsheets. Until now the industry has had to rely on a web of point solutions and teams manually keying the data into their systems.
Effective AI use and data security concerns
To maximise the benefits of AI, businesses need to integrate it thoughtfully into their operations. This involves identifying tasks that can be automated to enhance efficiency and allowing human workers to focus on more complex, creative work. Duco’s core philosophy around AI involves always keeping a human-in-the-loop and making sure that AI is only deployed as a solution to problems that genuinely need it.
For Duco’s clients, security is a top priority. There are significant differences between providing someone with data in a very secure environment for a limited time versus broadly opening access to the cloud. Ensuring robust data security measures can prevent unauthorised access and protect sensitive information.
For example, the way that AI is used for client data is highly controlled. Generative AI models, for instance, work in client environments on documents submitted to the platform. Models are trained on a client-by-client basis, ensuring that confidential data remains securely within the client’s environment and is not shared.
Empowering financial services with agile, secure AI capabilities
Artificial intelligence is transforming the financial sector by enhancing processes and minimising risks. It has unlocked new possibilities for data automation and, alongside other innovative technologies, such as no-code capabilities and cloud computing, is empowering firms to tackle their biggest challenges around data. Duco's cutting-edge technology demonstrates the effective use of AI while maintaining a strong focus on data security. As AI advances, businesses must remain vigilant in adopting and protecting these powerful tools.
Nordic Capital’s collaboration with its portfolio companies, such as Duco, is driving significant value creation by harnessing the full potential of AI. By leveraging AI, Nordic Capital is committed to sustaining competitive advantage and fostering long-term growth across its entire portfolio, both within the financial sector and beyond.
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