Green Sheet interviews Fenergo's Tracy Moore

A recent survey of U.S. financial services professionals uncovered a troubling paradox: while most firms feel confident in meeting 2025 compliance deadlines, only a fraction believe their current technology is up to the task. Legacy systems, siloed data, and manual workarounds continue to drive up compliance costs and operational risk.

To explore why this disconnect persists—and how forward-thinking institutions are using AI and automation to bridge the gap—we checked in with Tracy Moore, Director at Fenergo, a leading provider of next-generation compliance and client lifecycle management solutions.

1. A recent survey found that while nearly all financial services professionals feel confident about meeting 2025 compliance deadlines, only 3 percent believe their current technology fully addresses compliance needs. Why do you think there is such a wide gap between confidence and capability?

The discrepancy between financial institutions perceived confidence and their technological capabilities reflects a fundamental disconnect between regulatory ambition and operational reality. With significant penalties affecting institutions that fail to comply with regulations, it is crucial to meet compliance deadlines.

Fenergo's global AML fines research report shows that last year, U.S. regulators issued more than $4.3 billion in fines. The magnitude of this penalty sends a clear signal that regulators are intensifying enforcement, and financial institutions are taking notice. Institutions may be doubling down on their compliance efforts, and this is leading to a sense of confidence.

However, financial firms historically rely heavily on manual processes and workarounds to meet immediate compliance needs. Many teams have been scraping by with outdated methods and manual interventions, but this approach is unsustainable and ultimately undermines compliance efforts. It also hinders the organization's ability to offer a smooth customer experience and can increase operational risk. 

This ties directly into the low confidence of current technologies' ability to address compliance needs. Outdated systems, fragmented and siloed data structures, and manual workflows significantly impair efficiency and adaptability. These legacy technologies are simply not equipped to support the increasingly complex and evolving regulatory landscape.


The inability to quickly and effectively adapt to regulatory changes - both in the US and across jurisdictions - leaves institutions vulnerable to compliance failures, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage.

Further complicating the issue is the shortage of compliance and technology talent, making manual approaches increasingly untenable. These converging factors underscore the need for institutions to strategically modernize their technological infrastructure, leverage innovations such as AI and automation to streamline processes, enhance responsiveness, and improve operational resilience.

Addressing this gap goes beyond compliance requirements as it is about strategic transformation which enables enhanced efficiency, organizational agility, and sustained competitive differentiation.

2. What practical steps can financial institutions take right now to modernize without disrupting their operations?

Financial institutions can tackle modernization through carefully managed, incremental initiatives that prioritize continuity while addressing legacy and manual processes. A crucial first step is to analyze the existing gaps. Institutions should ask themselves where technology can create more value in terms of time and cost, and where there are opportunities for scalability.

It is hard to believe, but some firms still rely fully on on-premises infrastructures instead of the cloud, missing out on possible scalability.

An important enabler for smooth and successful modernization is having a proper and clean data warehouse. Firms should work on data cleanup and standardization programs to ensure accuracy, consistency, and reliability.

Effectively managed, high-quality data forms the foundation upon which modernized compliance processes are built. Institutions can also systematically address data fragmentation by integrating systems to provide a single source of truth that enhances both regulatory reporting accuracy and decision-making effectiveness.

Moreover, institutions should look to integrate emerging technologies, particularly agentic AI and advanced automation. However, the key is to start gradually rather than through a complete overhaul.

By initially introducing these technologies into non-critical or advisory capacities, such as supportive co-pilots, institutions enable compliance and operations teams to familiarize themselves with AI-driven tools without risking operational disruption or regulatory non-compliance. Over time, as teams become comfortable and capabilities mature, the role of technology can progressively expand.

Institutions should also proactively establish clear, transparent governance frameworks around gen AI and automation. This involves ensuring that AI-driven processes are explainable, transparent, and auditable, critical factors for regulatory acceptance and internal stakeholder buy-in. Together, these measures enable institutions to modernize smoothly, gradually eliminating inefficiencies and significantly enhancing compliance agility without operational disruption.

3. With the regulatory environment constantly evolving, how can firms future-proof their compliance strategies through smarter technology investments?

To future-proof compliance strategies, financial institutions should approach technology investments as strategic decisions rather than tactical solutions. Smart technology investments should prioritize adaptive, scalable solutions capable of responding to regulatory changes.

Agentic AI is particularly well-suited to this challenge, given its unique capability to independently interpret evolving regulatory scenarios, adjust operational processes, and identify emerging compliance risks.

Future-proofing also demands attention to foundational aspects of technology implementation, particularly robust data governance and interoperable systems that allow integration and scalability. Institutions need transparent and explainable AI models that regulators can trust and verify, coupled with a clear governance and oversight framework that meets regulatory scrutiny.

Engaging actively with regulators to align emerging technology solutions with evolving expectations is also essential, ensuring institutions are not only reacting to change but proactively shaping and preparing for regulatory developments.

Furthermore, adopting a collaborative model, where technology is integrated with human expertise, ensures that compliance teams remain engaged, continuously optimizing risk management processes and outcomes. Such an approach equips institutions with the necessities to navigate regulatory complexity effectively, ensuring ongoing resilience, competitive advantage, and compliance certainty in a continually shifting landscape.

4. You have spoken about the role of agentic AI in compliance. Could you explain what agentic AI is and how it's helping financial institutions overcome both technology and talent shortages?

Agentic AI represents an evolution in artificial intelligence that fundamentally differs from traditional automation or simpler AI applications. While traditional automation focuses on completing predefined tasks through workflows, agentic AI operates with greater autonomy and adaptability.

It possesses the capability to analyze complex and changing information, make independent context-aware decisions, and adapt its actions accordingly without explicit instructions.

For financial institutions experiencing technology and talent shortages, agentic AI is very transformative. It reduces the compliance team's reliance on manual processes, allowing skilled professionals to shift their focus toward higher-value, strategic activities such as complex risk assessments, proactive financial crime detection, and in-depth regulatory analysis.

This alleviates pressure created by talent shortages and empowers existing compliance professionals to apply their expertise more effectively, ultimately helping business to run smoother and grow.

Additionally, agentic AI enhances compliance outcomes by identifying suspicious patterns, significantly reducing false positives common in manual or semi-automated anti-money laundering (AML) systems; making all the difference in the fight against financial crime.

5. Compliance is often seen as a cost center rather than a driver of business value. How can executives shift this mindset and make a compelling business case for investing in next-generation compliance technologies?

The perception of compliance being a cost center should be laid to rest. An up-to-date compliance process, leveraging modern compliance technologies, can be an indispensable tool that contributes directly to business outcomes and competitive advantages. It can help to deliver an efficient client experience and reduces the cost and complexity of compliance so that organizations can scale faster.

Investing in next-generation compliance technology, such as automated and agentic AI-driven solutions, can be a game changer. These tools can reduce manual work, significantly shorten onboarding times and minimize operational errors, which positively affects customer satisfaction and retention.

Compliance technologies that enhance real-time risk detection and financial crime prevention reduce the likelihood of costly regulatory fines, reputational harm, and associated financial losses, presenting a clear and quantifiable return on investment.

Compliance transcends regulatory obligations as it's a strategic advantage that secures organizational resilience, accelerates growth, and enhances competitive positioning in the marketplace.

6. Looking ahead, what are the key compliance and operational risks you believe financial institutions will face if they fail to close this technology gap — and what might the consequences be?

If financial institutions fail to address the growing compliance technology gap, they risk facing significant operational vulnerabilities, regulatory exposure, and overall business growth disadvantages.

Operationally, reliance on outdated technology and manual processes leads to inefficiencies, higher operational costs, increased error rates, and slower customer onboarding and transaction processing. This results in undermining the customer experience, which can lead to negatively impacting business growth potential. Institutions that lag technologically will increasingly struggle to compete effectively with digitally advanced peers, risking loss of market share and profitability.

Lastly, without modernizing their compliance infrastructure, institutions are ill-prepared for many sophisticated financial crime threats and ever-changing regulatory scrutiny, placing pressure on compliance and operational teams already strained by talent shortages.

Closing the technology gap is critical, not for compliance reasons, but as a foundational strategy for institutional viability, resilience, and competitive positioning in a continuously evolving global market.

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