First up, Zapparoli says, is using existing technologies to drive automation and digitization. “This is diligence. This is discipline. This is prioritization,” she adds. “This is knowing every business that we do, front to back, and how it can be improved.”
Many initiatives are client-facing, designed to make data more organized and accessible and processes faster and smarter. In early 2022, for instance, Bank of America joined the lineup of global partners and investors in Capital Markets Gateway, an equity capital markets platform that directly connects buy- and sell-side participants in real time, with centralized, standardized communication and access to information.
Similarly, Bank of America has partnered with Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Credit Suisse to develop a new platform for the syndicated loan market that allows lenders to access portfolio data in one place. The new portal, scheduled to be launched this year and called Versana, is designed to digitize the loan space and eliminate paperwork, like payment notices and rate resets, that are oſten handled manually.
Existing AI technologies also are being deployed to improve deals. Launched in 2018, Bank of America’s PRIAM uses AI to comb through its databases and predict which clients may be interested in specific deals, based on their record and past history. The goal is to improve deal-making by identifying investors and opportunities, then connecting them with each other. Think of it as operationalizing intuition. PRIAM 2.0, the second generation designed to take the experience to the next level with even more functionality, is set to debut in 2022.
These big initiatives will work alongside the continued digitization of more routine functions and tasks. According to an Accenture survey, 90% of respondents say that within five years, virtual assistants will handle more than half of customer interactions. Similarly, Zapparoli says her vision is relationship managers augmented with all of the data about all of the clients in their respective coverage areas and industries, leaving them enabled and armed to strategically focus more deeply on customers with even greater accuracy. In that scenario, everyone wins.