Building an AI-Enabled Operating Model: Heard at SIFMA Ops 2026

Artificial intelligence isn't just another technology investment—it requires a fundamental shift in how financial institutions operate.

In this edition of Heard at Ops, Bob Santella, CEO of BetaNXT, explains why the industry needs a new AI-enabled operating model to unlock greater agility, efficiency, and long-term value. Rather than viewing AI as a standalone tool, Bob shares why firms should think of it as the foundation for the next generation of financial services.

The industry needs a new operating model. The firms that actually plan, strategize, and invest for the future by building an intelligent architecture, they will have successful outcomes most likely. Those that actually throw old technology underneath new innovation and new technology, they'll continue to struggle because they won't be able to scale, govern risk, or meet the demands when it comes to speed.

I think that was a theme of comments I made earlier today here at the SIFMA Ops Conference. First of all, many firms in the industry are actually spending a lot of money and a lot of time on AI, often without a strategic direction or a plan around it. And a plan really directs how it becomes more into an operating system. And one thing I talked about, which is really important for firms to realize, is that in deploying AI, one of the mistakes that firms often make is they actually deploy new agents, new technology, innovative solutions that are AI-enabled onto old and legacy platforms, onto old processes, onto tech or operational debt. Therefore, it's resulting in suboptimal outcomes. So you're mixing new with old, and you're not getting the bang for your buck or the intended consequence or outcome that you expect from your investment in AI.

Second, we talk about AI becoming more of an orchestration layer. Big words and complicated, but really simply what it means is that AI now becomes the traffic cop in many ways. Really, I would say the overall barometer of how AI and technology should be deployed through every single process. You almost dissect every process within an operational team and function, and apply where AI can be effective, either in eliminating a process or optimizing a process.

Lastly, you want to be able to leverage the human involvement. The whole idea of an operating system that's really AI-enabled throughout the firm does not discard or eliminate the human element. What I said earlier needs to be reinforced. It actually uplifts the human involvement to a higher level in the value chain. That basically means humans are now, instead of actually doing the work and involved in the manual processes, they're supervising the work, and they're making intelligent decisions when it comes to things that require nuance, judgment, and accountability. That's the value of human involvement, and this is a case where human involvement and who makes those decisions can often make or break success of a strategy

Source: SIFMA Ops 2026