Docupace targets 2020 AI product rollout
DOCUPACE TARGETS 2020 AI PRODUCT ROLLOUT
TIM LEEMASTER
Docupace, a digital services platform provider for the asset management industry, is targeting next year to launch an AI-based product for broker-dealers, CEO Mark Tapling says.
The Los Angeles, California-based company intends to anonymize the large raw pool of statistical data it has collected, much like the health care industry does with patient data, allowing clients a licensed platform where they can compare their business to targeted industry norms and averages.
“We’re evaluating the infrastructure now . . . [and] trying to figure out the most cost-effective way” to deliver the product, Tapling said. The neural networks the company plans to employ to calculate trend lines in the data is one area under development the CEO described as a “trickier” aspect of the service they are working through.
Since taking up the CEO position in April of last year Tapling said he has been working to improve the user interface with its software and speed up the amount of time it takes to get its systems up and running with clients.
The company is intent on growing clients in its core market of broker dealers and registered investment advisors. “There’s lots of white space there,” Tapling says.
Recent partnerships, with companies including fund services firm FundKeeper and software developer WalkMe, Docupace has developed will also help it gain new exposure to independent wealth managers, Tapling said. The company is also working on expanding into parallel markets such as insurance.
Following Tapling into the C-suite was former AIG executive David Ballard, who joined as COO earlier this year. He had joined the board in 2018, following a similar route to Tapling who had joined the board in 2017.
Ballard left the company, however, soon after taking up the COO position in February. The company declined to comment and said Tapling and Michael Pinsker, the company founder and chairman of the board, were sharing the role’s responsibilities. If a suitable candidate was found they would hire someone for the vacant position.
The company operates at a small profit and reinvests in growth, Tapling said. It has attracted interest from venture capital investors and if they opted to move forward with any outside financing plan that would start to come together in October with board approval in December.
“We’ll make a final call by the end of the year,” Tapling said. “It’s a hot market but you have to have the plan and discipline in place.”
The company was started in 2002 and provides services that include document management, cybersecurity, advisory changes and client onboarding.