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Articles May 30, 2025

Accelerated vs. Automated: Making Intentional Design Decisions in Process Modernization

Milanie Cleere Jason Morris
Authors
Milanie Cleere, Jason Morris

In today’s complex and regulated financial services environment, institutions face pressure to modernize by digitizing workflows, reduce manual review cycles, and enable scalable, auditable processes. At the same time, the regulatory landscape is shifting rapidly, with changes to expectations around rules and regulations that were previously stable or slow to change. In this climate, institutions want to move faster, scale efficiently, and reduce manual work. But in the push toward digital transformation, many teams overlook an important distinction, the difference between process acceleration and true automation.

The difference is significant. It defines how teams manage risk, meet compliance, construct audit trails, and preserve human accountability. Missing the opportunity to make the right design decision risks inflating project cost savings, building trust in flawed systems, or locking in processes that should be reimagined — not scaled. This article helps leaders distinguish between process acceleration and automation, understand the risks of misclassification, and make design decisions that align with compliance, risk posture, and long-term business goals.

Know the Difference: Acceleration Still Requires Human Judgement

Most processes don’t move directly from manual to automated. Instead, they evolve across a spectrum. Recognizing this spectrum helps financial institutions modernize operations without increasing risk.

Manual processes rely entirely on human execution. Automated processes operate on system-executive logic without human intervention. In between lies acceleration — technology-enhanced processes where humans remain owners of the final decisions. These processes often use workflows, auto-filled data, or system suggestions to increase speed and consistency.

Consider a BSA/AML process. A suspicious transaction alert may trigger automatically based on transaction value thresholds. The system enriches the alert with context and routes it to a compliance team. Once there, a human analyst still decides whether to file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR). This is an example of acceleration — not automation. As outlined in the FFIEC BSA/AML Manual, such decisions must be clearly documented and attributable to a responsible party.1

Evaluate Whether a Process is Ready for Acceleration or Automation

Once a process has been prioritized for modernization, the next step is to determine if it is ready for acceleration or automation. Not every process, no matter how promising, has the clarity, data, availability, or process stability needed for execution. Teams should evaluate whether the necessary inputs exist, the process is well understood, and decision logic is structured enough to support automation. The following diagnostic matrix can help teams assess readiness.



This evaluation helps teams make informed execution decisions and avoid common pitfalls such as automating unstable processes or over-engineering workflows that benefit from human input.

A Fortune 500 bank wanted to automate its commercial risk review process. The bank made previous attempts without success. The most recent attempt resulted in a manual process prone to human error, while the automated portion generated duplicate or incorrect assessments. CapTech worked with the organization to redesign the process, identifying areas within the manual procedures that could be accelerated to provide essential regulatory information needed for analysts to make decisions. This information was then added into an automated system, which routed it to the appropriate individuals. The redesigned process enabled the bank to expedite risk assessments without compromising data integrity and automated suitable, less complex areas.

Before You Build, Decide on What You’re Building

Execution can start once a process objective is classified — whether the intent is to accelerate or automate. From here, teams should align on the right design path and build accordingly. These decisions likely require input from legal, compliance, operations, technical, and other business leads. Risk exposure, regulatory expectations, and data readiness all influence the appropriate path forward. The following question sets help clarify whether a process should be accelerated or automated — and anchor that decision in both business logic and compliance standards.

If Accelerating a Process, Ask:

  1. What part of the process still requires human input?
  2. How will users know when and how to act?
  3. How will human decisions be logged and auditable?1
  4. How can the system reduce manual burden through pre-fill routing or suggestions?
  5. How will human involvement affect cycle time, error rates, or downstream processes?

If Automating a Process, Ask:

  1. Is the decision logic fully rules-based and deterministic?
  2. Can the system run without human data entry or manual validation?
  3. Are rollback, exception handling, and override paths in place?2,4
  4. Can the system explain and log each decision?1
  5. Are monitoring and control mechanisms actively managed?2

These questions do more than guide system design; they help teams align on assumptions, clarify ownership, and prevent the downstream risks that come from misaligned expectations between executive project sponsors and implementation teams. By asking these questions upfront, teams can reduce rework, build shared accountability, and increase confidence that the execution path aligns with both regulatory and business goals.

A regional bank engaged CapTech to accelerate and automate portions of its Know Your Customer onboarding process. CapTech collaborated with the organization to identify all key stakeholders involved in the process, including individuals and functions affected upstream and downstream, as well as the various technologies currently in use. This enabled the team to collect all relevant information upfront to assess any potential impacts of changes aimed at speeding up or automating the process. By asking essential questions in advance, the team implemented an end-to-end solution that resulted in a more streamlined approach and reallocated internal resources effectively.

Translate Process Intent into Execution Requirements

Once the process objective is defined, either to accelerate or automate, the team should translate that intent into execution. This means aligning system behavior, interface logic, data inputs, and exception handling mechanisms to the chosen path. Execution misalignment at this stage can create audit gaps, undermine user trust, and limit long-term adaptability.

The table below summarizes how these attributes vary depending on whether the goal is to accelerate or automate a process. Use this table as a guide to help identify key design, ownership, and compliance considerations that will influence how each process is implemented.

Regulators Expect Proof of Who Decided What, and How

Regulatory frameworks increasingly expect financial institutions to provide transparent, auditable records of how decisions are made — whether human-driven or system-executed. These expectations vary depending on whether the process is accelerated or automated. Below is a summary of key standards and how they apply, including direct references to applicable sections.


Accelerated processes must preserve human judgement, accountability, and rationale in ways that are documentable and reviewable. Automated processes must demonstrate that decisions are rule-based, repeatable, and explainable within defined thresholds. In both cases, institutions must be able to produce evidence that their decisions — human or machine — are in compliance, intentional, and governed by documented controls.

Automation Decisions are Strategic Decisions

Process acceleration and automation play essential roles in operations modernization, but they are not interchangeable. Misclassifying a process can introduce risk in efficiency and costly rework. By treating automation levels as strategic decisions, financial institutions can ensure system behavior, ownership, and controls are aligned from the start. The right balance can deliver speed and scale without compromising oversight, especially in regulated environments where traceability and accountability matter.

If your organization is evaluating how and where to apply process acceleration or automation, CapTech can help. Our teams have deep experience with leading financial institutions in discovering, prioritizing, and implementing scalable and compliant processes that drive impact through being accelerated or automated.

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Milanie Cleere

Managing Director

Milanie is a strategic problem solver who balances pragmatism with systems-level, future-oriented thinking. She brings expertise in product portfolio leadership, AI-driven process automation, and organizational transformation. Milanie draws on deep experience leading in complex organizations to guide diverse teams and scale transformation through clear strategy, technical depth, and an entrepreneurial mindset.

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Jason Morris

Senior Manager

Jason is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt with over 15 years of experience in process engineering across industries such as finance, healthcare, and technology. Jason focuses on identifying and implementing organizational strategies using analytical expertise, change management principles, and business process improvement methodologies. He also holds a Prosci Change Manager certification and provides training, mentorship, and support for individuals seeking LSS Green Belt certification.

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Sources

  1. FFIEC BSA/AML Manual – Suspicious Activity Reporting:
    https://bsaaml.ffiec.gov/manual/AssessingComplianceWithBSARegulatoryRequirements/04
  2. Basel Committee – Principles for Operational Resilience (2021):
    https://www.bis.org/bcbs/publ/...
  3. ISO/IEC 27001:2013 – Information Security Management (referenced based on industry interpretation of Clause A.12.4 – Logging and Monitoring):
    https://www.iso.org/standard/27001
  4. ISO 22301:2019 – Business Continuity (referenced based on industry interpretation of Clause 8.4.3 – Business Continuity Procedures):
    https://www.iso.org/standard/75106.html