Overview
Systems integration and AI for financial services firms
A financial services firm runs on systems that each hold part of the client: the CRM, the registry or core platform, marketing automation, the client portal, the service desk and document management. When they don't share data, advisers re-key details, investor communications go to the wrong segment, and nobody can show a regulator one clean record of what happened.
Great Minds is a Sydney-based systems integrator, the integrator for the gaps between platforms. For financial services that means connecting Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics 365 to registry and core systems, marketing automation such as Marketo or Klaviyo, and Atlassian Jira Service Management for client and internal service.
AI comes after the plumbing, with a human sign-off. Once data flows cleanly, AI agents can take on work that's high-volume and checkable: summarising client interactions, preparing meeting packs, triaging service requests and checking data quality before reports go out. Our consultants design every agent with a review step and an audit trail.
Capabilities
Financial services services we deliver
We work alongside CIOs, COOs and heads of distribution on four kinds of financial services work, as separate projects or one program. Each starts by agreeing which system owns clients, accounts, holdings and communications.
How we deliver
A financial services program, from audit to rollout
We map your systems, data flows, manual workarounds and the controls around them. You get a target architecture, a prioritised roadmap and a price.
Data ownership, integration design, access controls and the AI use cases worth doing first, agreed with distribution, operations, risk and IT before build starts.
Integrations, platform configuration and data migration, tested with real client scenarios. AI agents do much of the repetitive mapping and checking; our consultants own the design and sign off every change.
A staged rollout with training and hypercare, timed around reporting periods and fund events. Then we measure results and extend to the next team or use case.
Australian considerations
What Australian financial services firms need to check
If you're APRA-regulated, CPS 230 Operational Risk Management has applied since 1 July 2025. It expects you to manage the risk of material service providers, and the SaaS platforms and integrations that carry critical operations are part of that picture. CPS 234 Information Security requires you to notify APRA of material information security incidents within 72 hours, so integration logging and monitoring matter.
Client data is personal information under the Privacy Act. From 10 December 2026, if software makes or substantially helps make decisions that significantly affect clients, your privacy policy must say so; automated application declines and credit decisions are likely in scope. Our guide to automated decisions and the Privacy Act has a triage table. Email and SMS still follow the Spam Act 2003, and APP 8 applies when platforms process client data overseas.
FAQ
Financial services AI and integration questions
Where should a financial services firm start with AI?
With a process that's high-volume, easy to check and low risk if the agent is wrong: meeting preparation, interaction summaries, service request triage or data quality checks. Decisions about clients stay with people. If client data is scattered across systems, fix the integration first.
Can you connect Salesforce to our registry or core platform?
Yes. We integrate CRMs with registry, core and portfolio systems through their APIs or files, so client and holding data stays in step. We agree which system owns each field and how conflicts are resolved before building.
Does CPS 230 affect our SaaS platforms and integrations?
If you're APRA-regulated and a platform supports a critical operation, it's likely part of your material service provider and operational resilience work. We document data flows, owners and failure handling for every integration we build, which feeds that work.
Can AI agents work with client data safely?
Yes, with the right design: agents only see the data their task needs, run in your approved platforms, log what they do and hand decisions to a person. We'll tell you when a use case isn't worth the risk.
Do you work with fund managers?
Yes. We integrated Marketo and Salesforce into one marketing automation engine so Montgomery could launch two global equity funds to the right investors at the right time, and we've reviewed on-premise and cloud security for an Australian asset manager.
Case studies
Financial services work from our case studies
Our financial services work includes Marketo and Salesforce connected for Montgomery's two global equity fund launches, and an end-to-end security review for an Australian asset manager.
Marketo and Salesforce connected for 2 fund launchesMarketo and Salesforce, connected for a global fund launchMarketo and Salesforce integrated into one marketing automation engine, so Montgomery could launch two global equity funds to the right investors at the right time.
On-premise and cloud security reviewed end to endCyber security review for Australian asset managerComprehensive cyber security review encompassing on-premise and cloud-based infrastructures.Insights
Financial services, CRM and AI insights
Salesforce for fund managers: investor relations, distribution and DDOWhich Salesforce products fit, modelling advisers, platforms and investors, registry integration, DDO and AML/CTF support, and AI.
Automated decisions and the Privacy Act: what changes on 10 December 2026From 10 December 2026, privacy policies must disclose automated decisions that significantly affect people.
The connected enterprise: integrating Salesforce, Atlassian, Adobe and ERPHow to connect Salesforce, Atlassian, Adobe and your ERP: system-of-record map, architecture options, API limits, APP 8 and CPS 230, and where to start.