Northern Trust, Microsoft Deploy AI Agent to Cut Client Onboarding Time by 83%

November 10, 2026 | By Semahegn Nigatu

Northern Trust and Microsoft have expanded their artificial intelligence partnership, introducing an AI-powered client onboarding agent that reduces data preparation time for institutional investors by 83 percent, from two and a half weeks to three days.

The new tool, developed jointly by Northern Trust and Microsoft's Frontier Company Forward Deployed Engineering teams, automates the processing of historical investment and transaction data for clients using Northern Trust Asset Servicing's Front Office Solutions platform.

The platform provides investment performance and analytics services to institutional investors, including pension schemes, foundations, endowments and large family offices. Onboarding these clients often involves consolidating large volumes of financial records from multiple sources to reconstruct investment performance histories, particularly for alternative assets.

The AI agent converts historical transaction records into a standardised format compatible with Northern Trust's reporting systems. It achieved a 96.5 percent first-pass F1 quality score, a metric that measures the accuracy and completeness of AI-generated results.

The system incorporates human oversight, allowing analysts to review outputs, identify errors, resolve exceptions and approve data before clients begin using the platform. Feedback from analysts is also used to improve the system's performance.

Built on Microsoft's Azure cloud infrastructure, the solution uses Microsoft Foundry and integrates with Microsoft Excel and SharePoint, enabling analysts to review and validate the AI-generated work.

The companies said the system was developed using anonymised data, with client information remaining under Northern Trust's control throughout the process. It also incorporates privacy, security and governance controls designed for the financial services industry.

The collaboration addresses a data management challenge affecting the investment industry. According to a Northern Trust survey, 57 percent of asset owners identified consolidating data from multiple internal and external sources as their biggest challenge.

Pete Cherecwich, chief operating officer of Northern Trust, said the technology would reduce the time needed to prepare and validate client data while maintaining the oversight and controls expected in financial services.

Bill Borden, Microsoft's corporate vice-president for worldwide financial services, said the partnership demonstrated how artificial intelligence could improve service delivery and operational efficiency in highly regulated industries while retaining human oversight.

Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services. As of September 30, 2026, the company reported 19.9 trillion US dollars in assets under custody and administration and 2 trillion US dollars in assets under management.

The expanded partnership forms part of Northern Trust's strategy to integrate AI into its operations, using the technology to support employees' expertise rather than replace human decision-making.

Source: FSX Business News