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Tag: SmartHub

Why Financial Institutions Need a Journey-Orchestration Platform

Posted on by Cindy Griffin

By Cindy Griffin, Financial Services Vertical Marketing Lead at Smart Communications 

You’ve used PDFs and DocuSign PowerForms for years. They’ve become the default for everything from onboarding forms to loan agreements. But let’s be honest—just because they work doesn’t mean they’re working well for today’s customers. 

Financial institutions like yours are under pressure to deliver seamless, omnichannel communications. Static PDFs and limited web forms can’t keep up with rising expectations for real-time, personalized, and connected experiences. 

That’s why leading financial institutions are turning to platforms like the Conversation Cloud™— combining SmartCOMM™, SmartIQ™, SmartHUB™, and SmartPATH™. Together, these solutions move you beyond one-off document automation to connected, data-driven journeys that adapt in real time across every channel. 

Static Forms vs. Omnichannel Orchestration Platforms: A Quick Comparison 

Capability 

PDFs & PowerForms 

Smart Communications’ Platform 

Customer experience 

Static, one-size-fits-all 

Dynamic, responsive, and personalized across the entire journey 

Channel flexibility 

Desktop-first, limited mobile usability 

Fully omnichannel (web, mobile, email, print, SMS) 

Data integration 

Manual rekeying or basic field mapping 

Real-time integration with core systems and CRMs 

Workflow automation 

Point solutions with limited orchestration 

End-to-end journey orchestration and intelligent automation 

Brand control & compliance 

Inconsistent formatting and outdated templates 

Centralized control with reusable, compliant content blocks 

AI-ready structure 

Flat, unstructured documents 

Structured data outputs for AI and analytics 

Scalability 

Hard to maintain, difficult to update 

Modular templates and orchestration rules that scale with your business 

Why “Good Enough” Isn’t Good Enough Anymore 

Your customers expect faster, simpler interactions—and they’re not comparing you to other banks. They’re comparing you to Amazon, Apple, and every on-demand app on their phone. 

PDF-based forms introduce friction: 

  • They’re hard to complete on mobile
  • They require manual processing or patchy integrations
  • They don’t adapt to the customer’s context or journey stage 

And when your workflows are fragmented, so is the experience. That’s when trust drops and abandonment rates rise. 

Working in unison with one another, our solutions solve for that friction through intelligent, connected workflows that span data collection (SmartIQ), document generation (SmartCOMM), orchestration (SmartPATH), and insight (SmartHUB). 

Real-World Use Cases 

Loan Applications: Replace multi-page PDFs with interactive, guided SmartIQ experiences that prefill with known customer data and feed directly into SmartCOMM for compliant documentation. Archive completed documentation in SmartHUB to meet books and records requirements and for easy retrieval.  

Customer Onboarding: Capture clean, structured data with SmartIQ to prefill onboarding forms and use SmartPATH to orchestrate a multi-step journey across channels—web, email, SMS—and track progress in real time. 

Compliance Disclosures: Ensure every disclosure meets legal and regulatory requirements while tailoring content based on jurisdiction and product, with audit trails automatically captured with SmartCOMM. 

Account Updates: Send dynamic, secure communications with SmartCOMM that are triggered by customer activity and managed through a single orchestration flow with SmartPATH. 

What Makes Smart Communications Different? 

You don’t need another form builder. You need a platform built for the complexity of modern financial services—one that unifies data collection, communication design, journey orchestration, and archiving from end–to–end. 

  • Structured, AI-ready data from the start
  • Omnichannel delivery from a single communication flow
  • Reusable content blocks for consistent branding and compliance
  • Seamless integration with your existing systems 
  • Customer-centric workflows that increase conversion and retention 

Stop relying on outdated processes and start designing journeys that put your customers first. 

Ready to see how the Smart Communications Platform—powered by SmartIQ, SmartCOMM, SmartPATH, and SmartHUB—can replace outdated PDFs and PowerForms with intelligent, connected experiences? Request a demo.

Frequently Asked Questions 

What is the Conversation Cloud?
The Smart Communications Platform brings together four powerful solutions—SmartCOMM, SmartIQ, SmartPATH, and SmartHUB—to help financial institutions create, manage, and deliver personalized, compliant, and connected customer conversations. From intelligent data collection to omnichannel delivery and journey orchestration, it’s a single ecosystem designed to help enterprises communicate smarter at scale. 

How does the platform handle journey orchestration?
Journey orchestration is powered by SmartPATH, which connects data, business rules, and communication flows across departments and channels. Whether it’s onboarding, loan processing, or compliance notifications, SmartPATH ensures the right message reaches the right customer at the right time—automatically and consistently. 

Can I replace my existing PDFs and DocuSign PowerForms? 
Absolutely. With SmartIQ and SmartCOMM, you can replace static, form-based processes with dynamic, mobile-friendly experiences. Customers can complete, sign, and submit data securely on any device—while your teams gain structured, AI-ready data that feeds directly into downstream workflows. 

How is this platform different from other communication tools?
Most solutions focus on one step in the process—like form completion or document delivery. The Smart Communications Platform connects every stage of the customer journey, from data collection and content creation to orchestration and analytics. It eliminates silos, reduces manual work, and enables continuous optimization across all communication touchpoints. 

Does it integrate with our existing systems? 
Yes. The platform is system-agnostic and connects easily to your existing infrastructure via APIs, batch processes, or third-party integrations. Whether you use Salesforce, Temenos, FIS, or other core banking systems, Smart Communications works alongside your current tech stack to deliver connected, compliant customer journeys.

Your Archive Strategy Isn’t Ready for the AI Era

Posted on by Scott Draeger

By Scott Draeger, SVP of Product Marketing and Vertical Solutions at Smart Communications 

When you think about what you archive, you expect your data to be static, stored, and tucked away. But in an environment of constant disruption, your archive needs to be searchable, connected, and ready on demand. 

Too often, organizations assume their archive solution still offers predictable costs, proven technology, and lasting relationships. That’s the complacency talking, because your archive systems and strategies have likely been in place for 10-plus years.  

Your archive and retrieval strategy is probably not ready for the AI Era, and it needs your fresh thinking now. Trends toward customer self-service and AI summarization technology put retrieval-optimized archive technologies like SmartHUB™ in position to transform your organization when legacy approaches may fail to scale while costing you more than you anticipate. 

Why Is Older Technology Problematic?

If you’ve had your archive technology longer than a full retention period, you may consider it reliable and dependable. This may have been true for the scale you operated at when your predecessors initially selected the technology, but a lot has changed since then.  

Most archive solutions deployed around the time of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act were architected around the challenges of the day, which were rising retention periods and high storage costs. The use cases of that era focused mainly on storage and less on retrievals, so they missed opportunities to: 

  • Incorporate metadata for better search and context
  • Manage multiple file formats
  • Reduce retrieval times 

As the context window of LLMs increases, so does the LLM’s appetite for data, documents, and attachments. Some legacy systems attempt to mask these limitations by adding real-time cache technology that sits on top of the legacy architecture. This introduces complex data mapping and prevents your archive from being a single source of truth. 

Today, customers requesting a document from an archive system have attention spans that are in the hundredths of a second. As your CX and Operations teams demand you move more of your customer experiences to self-service, your retrieval needs will exponentially increase. You may be archiving more types of communications from a wider variety of channels. When you add AI summarization to the mix, you may be summarizing thousands or tens of thousands as many documents. This strain will inevitably test your system, adding further delays that erode customer trust. 

Why Will Costs Be Unpredictable?  

Legacy archive solutions were priced around the assumption that storage activity was common, and retrieval activity was rare. To offer more predictability to clients, models about the ratio of storage to retrieval drove pricing discussions. Since storage outnumbered retrievals, vendors and customers agreed that focusing the discussion on storage resulted in a more predictable arrangement for both parties. The storage to retrieval ratio was thousands, or even tens of thousands, to one. 

As organizations look to reduce costs through automation and self-service, the archive’s storage to retrieval ratio starts to change. Customers are using the portal to look at documents and communications in the archive to verify a transaction, share information, or understand more before they expand their relationship. The more they look at older records, the more retrievals they create. Add in AI summarization, and now an AI Agent may read five to 20 documents from your archive to answer a question. This could boost retrieval activity hundreds, or even thousands, of times. 

If your legacy offering attempts to offer a real-time cache solution to reduce retrieval costs, that complexity will come with an additional price tag. As your complexity increases, so does your budget. 

What About My Valuable Vendor Relationships? 

As you look at your legacy technology provider, you may put a lot of value on the relationships you have with your account team. But if your account team hasn’t helped you plan for the impacts that customer self-service and AI summarization place on your archive system, they may not be the best partner. In fact, your account team may eagerly anticipate your CX and AI initiatives, because an extra zero (or two, or three, or four) on your retrieval counts might be the expansion that gets them to President’s Club. 

There’s a Better Way Forward 

The challenges with legacy archive systems aren’t insurmountable—rather, they require a fundamentally different approach. Sophisticated archive solutions like SmartHUB enable rapid migration, migrating hundreds of millions of pages (or more) per week with scalable cloud-based ingestion capabilities. You can retire your legacy technology in months, while bringing the benefits of retrieval–optimized archiving to your customers, employees, and even AI agents.  

To learn more about how Smart Communications helps customers bring their archive and retrieval strategy into the AI era, check out the video below and request a demo of SmartHUB today. 

Our Next Move: Accelerating the Future of Customer Conversations

Posted on by Leigh Segall

By Leigh Segall, CEO at Smart Communications

Every great company has defining moments — the milestones that mark not just progress, but transformation. Today is one of those moments for Smart Communications. 

With the official close of our acquisition by international private equity firm Cinven, we continue to build on our strong foundation and unstoppable momentum — entering this next chapter not as a company preparing for growth, but as one already driving it. This partnership will fuel our trajectory, helping us reach even greater heights in innovation, scale, and impact. 

Cinven’s investment signals a deep conviction in our vision: that customer engagement in regulated industries can, and should, be smarter, more connected, and more human. Their global experience scaling technology leaders further strengthens our ability to accelerate that vision and continue setting the standard for what enterprise engagement should be. 

But make no mistake — this isn’t a new direction. It’s an acceleration of the success, leadership, and innovation that defines who we are.

A Future Built on Trust 

For more than two decades, Smart Communications has led the evolution of customer communications — helping the world’s leading enterprises simplify complexity, modernize operations, and deliver customer experiences that build trust. 

We’ve done this by anticipating what’s next — being first to market with a cloud-native CCM platform, expanding into intelligent data collection, and, most recently, launching solutions like SmartHUB™ and SmartPATH™ that have redefined what enterprise-grade engagement looks like in the AI era. 

This foundation — built on trust, innovation, and deep industry expertise — is what attracted Cinven to our business. They see what our customers see: a company already shaping the future of customer engagement and leading this market forward. 

“The conversation around customer communications has changed more in the past three years than it did in the previous decade. Artificial intelligence, automation, and data-driven engagement have captured every boardroom’s attention. Yet beneath the optimism lies a fundamental reality: innovation in customer communication is no longer about experimenting with new tools. It is about orchestrating the entire communication ecosystem so that intelligence, compliance, and customer experience operate in complete sync.” 

—Saurabh Raj, Principal Analyst at QKS Group  

This is the world Smart Communications is already enabling. While others are still defining what this new era means, we’ve been executing it — helping enterprises move from static communication management to intelligent communication orchestration, where every interaction is adaptive, explainable, and trustworthy.

Accelerating What Matters Most 

As we enter this next phase, our focus remains crystal clear: 

  • Advancing our technology with continued investment in AI, automation, and secure cloud innovation that delivers measurable value to our customers.
  • Expanding globally to meet rising demand for compliant, digital-first customer conversations in every market we serve.
  • Driving meaningful outcomes by helping highly regulated enterprises modernize legacy systems, reduce operational friction, and orchestrate connected experiences that build lasting trust. 

“Together with Smart Communications, we see tremendous opportunity to shape the next phase of enterprise customer engagement,” said Thomas Railhac, Partner and Head of TMT at Cinven. “This partnership is about scaling a proven platform, deepening innovation in AI and cloud, and helping customers around the world deliver smarter, more connected experiences.” 

Together, we can move faster, scale further, and deliver more impact than ever before — while staying true to what makes Smart Communications unique: our customer focus, our purpose-built technology, and our people.

Momentum for the Future

2025 has been a year of extraordinary momentum. We’ve launched two major new solutions, deepened our partnerships with global powerhouses like AWS, Salesforce, and Guidewire, and welcomed a growing number of enterprise customers — including some of the world’s most recognized brands. Just as importantly, we continue to earn the trust of long-standing customers who have partnered with us for a decade or more, reaffirming the strength and longevity of our relationships and the measurable value we deliver year after year. 

These milestones reflect more than growth — they represent clarity of purpose. As the lines between customer communications, experience management, and service interactions continue to blur, Smart Communications is already serving as the connective tissue between them. From generation to orchestration to compliance, we’ve unified the conversation layer, helping enterprises deliver interactions that are not only intelligent, but explainable and human at their core. 

We have the platform, the expertise, and the conviction to lead the industry forward. And we have a community of customers and partners who continue to inspire us every day with the bold moves they’re making to transform how they engage with the people they serve.

The Best Is Yet to Come 

This moment is a celebration — of our team, our customers, and the trust we’ve built together.  

With Cinven’s partnership, we are accelerating what’s already in motion. Scaling faster, innovating deeper, and expanding our impact across every industry we serve. 

Together, we’re writing the next chapter of the Smart Communications story. One defined by bold thinking, meaningful innovation, and the drive to make every customer interaction smarter than the last. 

We’ve built this momentum. Now, with Cinven, we’re taking it even further. 

The best is yet to come. 

 

Superannuation at a Crossroads: Why Member Experience Needs a Rethink

Posted on by Cindy Griffin

By Cindy Griffin, Financial Services Vertical Marketing Specialist at Smart Communications 

The superannuation industry is continuing to undergo profound change. At our recent Melbourne roundtable, one theme came through loud and clear: Member experience (MEX) must evolve if super funds are to thrive in the next decade. 

From regulatory reform and shifting demographics to rising member expectations, funds are facing a wave of change that will reshape how they communicate, engage, and deliver value. Paul Schroeder, CEO of AustralianSuper, recently underscored this urgency at his National Press Club address, calling for legislative changes that simplify retirement and place member outcomes at the centre. 

The Forces Reshaping Superannuation 

1. Structural Changes in Retirement Accounts 

Schroder’s proposal to unify accumulation and retirement accounts, and integrate super with the aged pension, represents more than just a regulatory proposal. It requires funds to rethink how they guide members through retirement. Manual applications and fragmented processes will need to give way to seamless transitions that demand smarter, more intuitive communications. This is a fundamental shift in how members experience their retirement journey. 

2. Rising Regulatory Pressures 

At the same time, regulatory pressure is mounting. SPS 515, effective July 2025, requires Australian trustees to demonstrate that all aspects of their operations—including communications—support member outcomes. This means funds must go beyond generic notices and show alignment with the best financial interests duty.  

Meanwhile, Payday Super, expected to roll out in July 2026, will significantly increase communication volume and complexity. Members will expect real-time updates with every pay cycle, and employers will need clear guidance to navigate new contribution processes.

3. Inclusivity and Trust as Strategic Imperatives 

Australia’s super system must serve diverse and under–represented groups — women returning from career breaks, gig economy workers, Indigenous Australians, and non-English speakers. Inclusivity equals trust, and it’s rising to the top of the agenda. Communication must evolve to be inclusive, accessible, and transparent. Inclusivity is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a strategic imperative to build trust. 

AI and Trust in Superannuation 

At a recent superannuation roundtable, delegates raised concerns about members turning to popular AI tools for financial advice—despite these systems not being designed for accuracy in regulated domains. The risk of misinformation is real, especially as AI becomes more embedded in how members interact with their funds.  

According to KPMG’s “Trust, Attitudes and Use of Artificial Intelligence: A Global Study 2025,” only 36% of Australians broadly trust AI, with many more wary of its risks than excited by its potential. Yet, 65% still expect AI to deliver benefits like reduced manual tasks, improved efficiency, and more personalised experiences.  

Get More AI Insights From Our 2025 APAC Benchmark Report. 

For super funds, this presents a dual challenge: harnessing AI to enhance engagement while ensuring transparency, reliability, and ethical standards that resonate across generations.  

One of the attendees of the roundtable, Mario Garrido, co-authored this paper on trust, which emphasizes that for older generations, drivers of trust are more grounded in traditional cues: character, capability, and benevolence. Older members are less likely to be impressed by promises of innovation alone; they want proof of consistent performance, regulatory compliance, and clear ethical standards. 

For super funds, this generational divide means communications must be far more sophisticated and adaptive:  

  • Younger members expect transparency on how AI is used to personalise experiences and protect data
  • Older cohorts look for proof of reliability, governance, and ethical standards.  

Meeting both expectations requires modern platforms that can capture accurate member data, generate compliant communications across channels, and tailor messaging to different trust drivers at scale. 

How Smart Communications Helps Super Funds Lead Through Change 

At Smart Communications, we enable super funds to modernise their member engagement strategy with personalised, compliant, and scalable communications. Our solutions – SmartCOMM™, SmartIQ™, SmartHUB™  and SmartPATH ™– help funds meet regulatory obligations while improving the member experience. 

Compliance with Evidence: With SmartCOMM, super funds can standardise communications through pre-approved templates and centralised content management, ensuring every notice and disclosure is compliant, consistent, and on-brand. A full audit trail is captured, making it straightforward to demonstrate SPS 515 compliance. Automated version control further reduces risk, ensuring any regulatory changes are reflected across member touchpoints. 

SmartIQ supports compliance by guiding members through adaptive digital interviews that align with regulatory requirements. By capturing structured, validated data at the source, SmartIQ reduces the likelihood of incomplete or incorrect submissions and seamlessly feeds data into SmartCOMM-generated documents. 

Member Engagement by Life Stage: SmartCOMM orchestrates omnichannel, personalised communications tailored to member needs while SmartIQ powers guided digital interviews, enabling funds to capture member data once and reuse it across forms, advice documents, and onboarding workflows. Both solutions support multilingual and accessible formats to ensure that inclusivity is prioritised and every member is included.  

Employer Readiness for Payday Super: When it comes to the rollout of Padyday Super, SmartPATH ensures members receive real-time transparency through event-triggered contribution confirmations each pay cycle. SmartPATH orchestrates these communications across email, SMS, and online portals. By delivering clear, proactive communications, SmartPATH enables funds to reduce confusion, alleviate pressure on call centres, and lower overall service costs. 

Reimagine Member Experience: SmartPATH replaces manual, fragmented processes with intelligent, omnichannel orchestration—ensuring members receive timely, compliant, and personalised updates across email, SMS, and print. SmartPATH supports inclusive formats and AI-powered decisioning to guide diverse member cohorts through complex journeys like retirement transitions or Payday Super updates, while maintaining transparency and control to meet SPS 515 obligations and build trust across generations. 

Meet Customer Expectations: SmartHUB helps superannuation funds meet rising expectations for transparency, compliance, and inclusivity by securely storing all member communications—from emails to case records—in a central, audit-ready archive. With fast retrieval and seamless integration across SmartCOMM and SmartIQ, SmartHUB supports SPS 515 obligations, enables secure digital delivery, and reduces operational costs. It ensures members and staff can access the right information, at the right time, building trust through clarity and control. 

Turning Compliance into a Competitive Edge 

Super funds are truly standing at a crossroads. As Schroder noted in his address, more people with more savings are approaching retirement than at any other time Australian history. With Smart Communications, super funds can go beyond compliance to deliver the personalised, timely, and trustworthy experiences members expect and turn regulatory changes into a strategic advantage. 

Be Prepared For Change with Modern Solutions

If your fund is preparing for SPS 515, Payday Super, or broader retirement reform, now is the time to modernise your communications. Let’s talk about how Smart Communications can help you stay compliant, build trust, and improve outcomes. 

Beyond the Hype: What GenAI Can’t Fix Without the Right Foundation

Posted on by Cindy Griffin

By Cindy Griffin, Financial Services Vertical Marketing Specialist at Smart Communications 

The banking and financial services industry is at a crossroads with generative AI (GenAI). On one hand, customers are curious and generally optimistic about its potential. On the other, distrust of financial institutions, poor data quality, and fragmented regulations stand in the way of real and effective transformation.  

The simple truth is this: AI can only be as effective as the foundation it’s built on. Let’s dive into why. 

Trust and AI: The First Hurdle 

The financial services industry is built on a foundation of trust.  However, research from our 2025 Customer Experience and Communications Benchmark Report in Financial Services shows there is a trust gap. Globally, 37% of financial services customers don’t trust their financial institution—a number that rises to 38% in Singapore and 41% in Australia. 

This raises a critical question: does introducing AI close or widen the trust gap? The answer depends not on the technology itself, but on how responsibly it is implemented. Transparent AI usage, clear disclosures, and reliable outputs can strengthen relationships and improve trust. Opaque applications and inconsistent results only widen the trust gap. 

AI Strategy: Beyond the Wish List 

Financial services customers are warming to responsible AI use as applications like multilingual translations and hyper-personalisation become more common. In fact, 61% of financial services customers believe AI/GenAI will improve their experience within the next five years. The appetite and the expectation that AI will be used in financial services is at hand. 

If there were no regulatory or budget barriers, most financial institutions would leap at the chance to deploy AI across the customer journey. But each firm must face reality. Banking and financial services are highly regulated industries, and technology budgets are limited. 

For example, would a firm archive every communication indefinitely if regulations didn’t require it? Probably not. However, adding AI to the mix makes the prospect of archiving even more complicated. The more data you have archived, the better your AI summarisations will be. Enterprise archive and retrieval typically assume a massive number of low–cost storage events and comparatively rare retrieval events at a much higher cost.  As AI summarisations change your storage-to-retrieval ratio, your costs could explode. Without clean, structured data and thoughtful retention policies, even the best AI strategies become inefficient and expensive. 

When the Foundation Is Weak 

The risks of skipping foundational investments are significant: 

  • GenAI summarisation costs: A single workflow – retrieval, ranking, chunking, embedding, inference – multiplies costs compared to legacy search. At scale, expenses balloon quickly.
  • Customer self-service: If AI draws on incorrect or conflicting data, customers get wrong answers. That drives repeat queries, higher service costs, and frustration.
  • Employee experience: Staff relying on AI summaries of outdated or inconsistent knowledge bases end up wasting time untangling conflicts, often jumping between systems to find reliable information. 

Without the foundation of clean data and robust governance for GenAI, the risks to the business are magnified. 

Regulation: Fragmented but Inevitable 

It’s important to understand the potential for future regulations around AI because the decisions made today around how it’s implemented often have implications 10 to 20 years from now. 

Current global regulation of AI is fragmented, and financial institutions that compete globally must prepare for that reality. A few examples: 

  • Singapore: Prioritises transparency (explainable AI, disclosure) and data input quality. Uses principles-based frameworks aligned with OECD/G20 and co-develops standards with global tech firms.
  • Australia: Uses a risk-based approach to encourage innovation while managing harm shifting toward mandatory guardrails. Ethics principles based on OECD norms and strong business input.
  • New Zealand: Light-touch, principles-based guidance co-designed with stakeholders and aligned with OECD principles.
  • EU: The EU AI Act is the most developed regulatory framework to date and has the most actionable insight into how jurisdictions may approach AI regulation. It classifies AI by risk level. High-risk use cases, such as those tied to sensitive communications or inbound requests, face strict obligations. Limited risk use cases, like correspondence generation, require transparency and disclosure. 

Capturing Additional Information – Traceability & Content Provenance 

The new era of AI calls for more than just having access to archived content. Firms must know: 

  • When and how AI influenced communications. Track AI usage across all processes (e.g., translations, tone changes, summarisations). This will help to comply with regulations that could become more stringent over time.
  • The cost of large-scale summarisations. The storage-to-archive retrieval ratio is going to change significantly. Legacy search processes mean that archives are rarely retrieved. With GenAI summarisations, content will be retrieved at a much higher rate.
  • The source and reliability of every data point. Know how, when, and by whom AI is used to trace the origin, history, and transformation of content. Content provenance is not optional; it’s foundational to trust and compliance. 

Building a Smart Foundation for Effective AI 

What will the future of customer communications look like with AI? Customer lifecycle data will evolve to create more types of communications in more steps of the customer journey feeding more systems. Every time something is archived, it will span multiple channels for GenAI to create more information and more content. And, the archive will not just be about outbound channels, but also an inbound source of information like a summarisation at contract renewal. 

But this future of AI is not hypothetical for banking and financial services, it’s already here. Success depends on aligning a carefully designed strategy with the right foundation, enabled by a leading technology provider like Smart Communications: 

  • SmartIQ™ collects clean, structured data through guided digital journeys. 
  • SmartCOMM™ uses that data to create personalised, compliant customer communications.
  • SmartHUB™ archives data in a way that supports efficient AI retrieval and summarisation.
  • SmartPATH™ orchestrates intelligent, personalised customer journeys powered by trusted data. 

Together, these solutions provide the backbone for successful AI adoption. 

Realising AI’s Promise 

GenAI can reshape customer experiences in banking and financial services, but only with the right foundation built on trust, strong data foundations, and responsible governance. 

Financial institutions that invest now in systems to collect clean, structured data and digital archives to store that data will be better equipped to deliver effective AI and consistent omnichannel communications. Additionally, firms that focus on transparent AI usage and content provenance will find themselves more prepared for future AI regulations and frameworks. 

AI can be a powerful tool to strengthen trust, or it can serve as a means to erode it. The difference comes down to the foundation you build. Build one that ensures transparency, and you’ll unlock AI’s true promise. 

See us at the Asian Banking & Finance Summit in Singapore on September 25, 2025, to learn more about building a foundation for responsible AI. 

Archive and Retrieval in the AI Era: Why Legacy Solutions Fall Short

Posted on by Scott Draeger

By Scott Draeger, SVP of Product and Vertical Solutions at Smart Communications 

The artificial intelligence revolution is fundamentally changing how organizations interact with their archived communications—and your legacy archive and retrieval systems simply weren’t built for the challenges of today. 

The Legacy Problem: Built for a Different Era 

Traditional archive and retrieval technologies were built generations ago, with a spike for Sarbanes Oxley-driven retention requirements. Back then, storage was expensive, and retrieval requests during a seven–year retention period were rare.  

These systems met the legal needs of archiving single-channel communications for long periods of time. However, they were optimized around a simple assumption: Organizations would store vast amounts of data but rarely access it. These vendors’ pricing models and technical architectures assumed a low retrieval-to-storage ratio. The AI era is set to radically challenge those assumptions. SmartHUB™ is prepared to meet tomorrow’s challenges.   

The AI-Driven Shift: From Storage to Active Intelligence 

Today’s AI-powered applications are transforming archived communications from static repositories into dynamic, intelligent resources that streamline operations and improve customer experiences. Three key use cases are driving unprecedented demand for retrieval capabilities: 

Customer Self-Service: AI-guided applications now help clients navigate their communication history independently, and SmartHUB surfaces the most relevant documents and interactions with easy integrations. What once required extensive cross-system integrations is now easily available via scalable cloud applications that support your intelligent search and recommendation systems. 

Context-Rich Employee Interactions: Customer-facing applications create AI-generated summaries of months of multichannel communications in real-time, enabling more informed, personalized interactions that access PDF, HTML, email, SMS, and other communication channels. SmartHUB’s scalable retrieval quickly delivers relevant communications to reduce interaction times and increase customer satisfaction. 

AI Training and Optimization: Organizations are mining their communication archives to train AI systems, using historical customer experiences to improve future interactions and identify patterns that enhance service delivery. SmartHUB’s scalable retrieval can quickly supply millions of documents for analysis.  

The Cost Reality Check

As the AI era unfolds, it’s time to evaluate your legacy solutions against the new metrics that matter today and tomorrow: 

  • What will happen when your retrievals multiply by 10x, 100x, or even 1,000x? Legacy pricing models weren’t designed for AI applications’ appetite for data, information, and documents.
  • How will you integrate decades-old archive systems with cutting-edge AI technologies? Most legacy platforms lack the APIs and flexibility required to integrate with today’s AI technologies, especially on– premises technologies.
  • Can you deliver the real-time context that today’s customer experiences demand? Slow, batch-oriented retrieval processes can’t support AI applications that need instant access to communication history.

SmartHUB: Archive and Retrieval – Ready for AI 

SmartHUB addresses these challenges head-on with three core capabilities: 

Efficient Storage: Modern compression and indexing technologies that reduce storage costs while maintaining full searchability and compliance. 

Scalable Retrieval: High-performance architecture designed for the frequent, complex queries that AI applications demand—without the cost penalties of legacy systems. 

Rapid Migrations: A cloud-native architecture built with migration in mind lets you leave behind your legacy archiving technology, preserving decades of valuable communication data without the burdens of your legacy technologies. 

The Time to Act is Now 

The AI era isn’t coming—it’s here. Organizations that adapt their archive and retrieval strategies now will gain competitive advantages through better customer experiences, more efficient operations, and AI-powered insights drawn from their communication history. 

Those that wait risk being trapped by legacy systems that can’t scale to meet AI’s demands, facing spiraling costs and missed opportunities as their competitors leverage decades of communication data to deliver superior customer experiences. 

SmartHUB provides the foundation for archive and retrieval in the AI era. Are you ready to future proof your communication archives? 

About the Author 
Scott Draeger is the SVP of Product Marketing and Vertical Solutions at Smart Communications. He has a passion for collaboration, and over 25 years of innovating customer communications technology, around the globe. He focuses on improving communications for the recipient while improving performance for the business. He started as a document designer using a collection of hardware and software technologies, before moving to the software side of the industry. He finds connections across disciplines with certifications in graphic design, customer experience, electronic documents, and an MBA in international business.

How Smarter Archiving Builds Stronger Businesses 

Posted on by SmartComm

By Smart Communications 

For years, archiving has taken a backseat—a necessary function, but rarely a priority. It was where documents went to be stored, just in case. But the world has changed. Today, organizations are under increasing pressure to retain, access, and prove the integrity of their data. That makes archiving more than a compliance checkbox—it’s becoming a vital part of delivering better service, protecting the business, and staying ahead.  

If your current system still lives on-premise or was added as an extension to an ERP or ECM years ago, it may be time for a rethink. Chances are, it’s not keeping up with today’s demands—and it could be holding you back. 

Why Archiving Deserves a Closer Look  

In recent years, regulators have made it clear: archiving isn’t optional, and it can’t be sloppy. By mid-2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had issued 30 enforcement actions and over $1.5 billion in penalties to firms that failed to properly retain electronic records like texts and chats, while data protection authorities across Europe issued €1.2 billion in fines in 2024. Some individual US banks were fined up to $125 million.   

These weren’t isolated incidents—they were warning signs. For financial services, insurance, healthcare, and government organizations, the message is clear: outdated, fragmented archiving tools are no longer good enough.  

And it’s not just about storing PDF documents and emails anymore. Customers now engage across dozens of channels. At the same time, regulations like GDPR, and ISO standards are getting stricter—demanding that organizations store, retain, and dispose of data securely and responsibly. The right archiving software helps automate that process and puts your team in a better position to respond when it matters most. 

A Smarter Way to Archive 

Archiving might not always be in the spotlight, but when it’s done right, it quietly powers better outcomes across the business:  

Speed and responsiveness – Teams can instantly find and retrieve critical documents—like contracts, statements, or policy details—when a customer or regulator needs them.  

Compliance and peace of mind – Built-in audit trails, encryption, and retention rules help meet evolving regulations and reduce risk.  

IT and operational efficiency – Cloud-native platforms lighten the load for internal teams, with no hardware to maintain and updates that happen automatically.  

In healthcare, for example, HIPAA requires certain records to be stored for at least six years—and securely deleted after that. A 2024 industry survey found that nearly half of U.S. healthcare providers still rely on local servers or EHR systems for archiving, and about 50% plan to retire seven or more legacy systems in the next few years.  

Modernizing this infrastructure isn’t just about compliance. It’s about making life easier for the people using it.

Better for Customers. Better for Teams.  

When a customer requests a copy of their agreement, plan, or notification, they’re often doing so at a critical moment—during a claim, a renewal, or a major life event. A slow or incomplete response can erode trust. With a modern archiving platform, role-based access controls enable select employees to search, find, and deliver what’s needed in seconds—or better yet, customers can securely access the documents themselves through self-service. No delays. No IT tickets. Just answers when they matter most. 

What to Look for in Archiving Software Today  

If you’re re-evaluating your archiving strategy, here’s what modern solutions like SmartHUB™ offer:  

  • Immutable and audit-ready storage – Secure, tamper-proof data with clear trails of access and activity. 
  • Lightning-fast retrieval – Locate what you need, instantly—even across millions of communications. 
  • Cloud-native scalability – Built for growth, with zero on-prem maintenance and always-on updates. 
  • Granular access controls – Role and department-specific permissions with rich metadata tagging. 
  • Built-in compliance – Support for GDPR, ISO 14641, and WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance and more. 
  • Automated retention policies – No more manual deletions—let the system handle it. 
  • User-friendly experience – Multilingual, intuitive design drives faster onboarding and adoption. 
  • Flexible integrations – Works easily with CRMs, ERPs, and other everyday tools. 
  • Unified access across teams – A single source of truth for archived communications. 
  • Low lift for IT – Quick deployment with minimal ongoing maintenance.   

Archiving for the AI Era

 Archiving needs have changed—and they’ll keep changing as AI plays a bigger role in how we work. Historically, most archived documents were rarely accessed. But that’s no longer the case.  

Today, AI-enhanced tools are increasingly retrieving archived communications to provide context during customer interactions, fuel smarter self-service, and help teams make better decisions faster. That shift makes high-speed, high-volume retrieval just as important as secure storage—and it highlights the need for modern platforms designed to support a new era of speed, intelligence, and scale.  

Moving Forward with Confidence  

Modern communications require modern archiving. It’s not just about storing documents—it’s about building a smarter, more connected foundation for how your organization handles information.  

It’s time to move beyond outdated systems. Explore how SmartHUB makes modern archiving work for your business—securely, efficiently, and at scale.