A fireside chat with SmartStream’s Akber Jaffer

WatersTechnology sat down with Akber Jaffer, chief executive of SmartStream Technologies, to discuss the highlights of his first 15 months at the helm of the business and the release of SmartStream Air 9.0—the firm’s artificial intelligence-driven reconciliations platform.

• You’ve been at the helm of SmartStream now for just over a year. Looking back, what have been your highlights during that time and what is on your immediate radar for 2025?
• Firms on both sides of the industry are consuming more data than ever to transact their businesses more accurately and effectively. That trend tends to mean increased numbers of data formats and sources, which creates additional data management challenges for firms to deal with. What is your take on that challenge and how is SmartStream, as a business and technology partner, supporting its clients in this regard?
• There is little doubt the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model will become the dominant—possibly even the only—way for firms to access and consume their data and AI/machine learning technologies. To what extent is the SaaS model on SmartStream’s agenda, and do you see a time when all of your clients are consuming your data and technology services through the cloud?
• Version 9.0 of SmartStream Air was released recently. What new functionality has been folded into the latest version of the platform, and what does it allow its users to do that they weren’t able to in previous versions? 

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