A New Way
Why Banking Needs a Better Foundation for Human Work
The Real Failure
Over the past decade, banking invested heavily in digitizing workflows.
Applications moved online. Forms multiplied. Self-service portals promised speed and convenience. The intention was right. The outcome was not.
Each new system solved a problem, but also created a new silo. Over time, institutions lost a complete view of their customers and members, and work became fragmented as a result.
Self-service was both a cause of and default response to fragmentation.
Abandonment in digital account opening applications
(Cornerstone Advisors and Alkami Technology, 2025 Digital Banking Performance Metrics)
When data is fragmented...
...every interaction becomes transactional.
Banking Became Impersonal
When systems do not share context, the only way to move work forward is to ask customers to explain themselves again. And again. And again.
Forms replaced understanding. Completion replaced conversation. And abandonment became the signal no one wanted to hear.
Bankers manage screens, not relationships. Processes stretch and opportunities are missed because no one sees the full picture at the right moment.
What Actually Went Wrong?
The failure is not collection. It is connection.
That data lives across systems that do not talk to each other. There is no shared context. So digital experiences fall back on forms. Growth efforts fall back on tactics. More outreach. More training. More follow-ups. It feels inefficient
This is not a people problem. It is a data problem.
Most institutions have a goldmine of data to serve customers, members and businesses well. Data from loans, deposits, payments, documents, reviews - the list goes on.
Drew Lyall
The Shift That is Happening Now
Artificial intelligence is accelerating this reality. AI does not add value when it only sees fragments of information. On siloed data, it produces noise. Generic alerts. Shallow recommendations. More work, not less.
Context from connected data allows it to recognize patterns, understand change, and anticipate what should happen next. More importantly, it allows work to move forward automatically instead of waiting on memory, meetings, or manual handoffs.
AI is not the goal. It is the forcing function that makes the need for a better foundation unavoidable.
The Ascent Belief
We believe in the next phase of digital transformation, humans will be at the center and execution handled by systems that understand the full picture.
Ascent connects data together across the systems that institutions are using. A shared context makes it clear what matters today and what is next. From there, execution can begin. Workflows attach naturally. Tasks are initiated automatically. Forms are pre-filled. Follow-ups are prepared. Bankers are supported with context instead of buried in administration.
Data and insight without execution is just observation. Data and insight explain the world. Execution is what changes it. Ascent combines deep institutional knowledge with intelligence to deliver the execution layer banking has been missing.
Allan Boyd
You don’t need perfect data to start.
You need the right place to begin.
Making Change Practical
We know this kind of change has historically felt risky. Connecting data across systems was expensive, slow, and disruptive. That is why most institutions never attempted it.
Ascent exists because that no longer has to be the case.
Institutions start small. One area. One workflow. Value appears quickly, without ripping out systems or waiting for perfect data. Expansion is incremental and intentional.
This is not a big-bang transformation. It is a steady shift toward better execution.
The Outcome
When bankers stop typing and start listening again, relationships improve. Conversations become more relevant. Services are introduced when they're useful, not when a checklist demands.
Growth becomes more predictable. Fee income aligns with real activity. Servicing becomes proactive instead of reactive.
Insight shows you what’s happening but execution is what changes outcomes.
Arjun Sahgal
Insight isn't the end. Execution is.