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Astorna

For compliance in regulated financial firms

Could you put this AI in front of the regulators?

Suppose the regulators select one client file from six months ago.

Could you show what the AI was meant to do, which version ran, what information it used, what it produced, who reviewed the output, and what changed before the result reached the client?

Could you also explain how its risks are measured, how its performance is monitored, what happens when it fails, and who is accountable? If those answers are spread across vendor documents, emails, and people’s memory, would you be comfortable standing behind the workflow?

First check if this workshop is suitable for you.

Book a free 15-minute call

AI does not arrive on its own

The EU AI Act may add a new layer, but AI does not replace your firm’s existing obligations under MiFID II, GDPR, DORA, or other sector-specific rules.

Depending on where AI is used, it may affect how the firm handles client interests, suitability, communications, record keeping, data protection, outsourcing, oversight, and operational resilience.

The useful question is not simply, “Which regulation mentions AI?” It is, “What changes in this workflow once AI is introduced?”

What would you need to be able to show?

Before you could stand behind the workflow, what would need to be clear?

Could you explain:

  • What the AI is intended to do, and what it must not decide?
  • What information it uses, and whether that information is appropriate for the task?
  • How a particular output, review, or override can be reconstructed?
  • What the human reviewer is expected to understand and challenge?
  • How errors, bias, drift, and unexpected behaviour are detected?
  • What is measured, how often it is measured, and what triggers action?
  • What happens if the model, provider, data source, or surrounding system changes?
  • Who owns the risk, the decision, and the response when something goes wrong?

These questions turn principles such as explainability, auditability, resilience, and risk management into something that can be examined inside a real workflow.

What this workshop does

You bring one workflow your firm is considering for AI.

Together, we examine where AI would enter, what changes as a result, and what your firm may need to understand, measure, document, and monitor before making a decision.

Within two working days, you receive a concise AI Workflow Brief covering the intended use, key risks, evidence gaps, open questions, and the smallest sensible next step.

It is not a compliance opinion or regulatory approval. It gives your compliance and legal teams a clearer basis for their own review.

The standard is not AI that looks impressive

It is a workflow your firm can explain, evidence, monitor, challenge, and stop when it no longer behaves as expected.

Sometimes the result is a path forward. Sometimes it is a reason to leave the workflow alone.

Who this is for

  • Compliance professionals at financial firms where AI is already in use or being proposed
  • People expected to assess, challenge, or monitor an AI-enabled workflow
  • Firms that want to surface evidence, ownership, and control questions before a design or vendor decision becomes difficult to change

How it works

  1. Start with a free 15-minute call

    Tell me briefly which workflow you have in mind. The call is simply to see whether the workshop is likely to be useful. It may not be.

    Book a free 15-minute call

    Prefer email? Write to hossein@initialblock.com.

  2. Book the workshop

    If the workshop fits, you will receive a private booking link to choose a date and time that suits you, and a few questions that help both of us prepare.

    Price
    €400
    paid when booking
    Workshop
    90 minutes
    Online, at your office, or at ours. You choose.

  3. Use the brief to decide

    Within two working days, you receive a one-page AI Workflow Brief. It records the preliminary assessment, what remains unresolved, and the smallest sensible next step.

    On whether AI belongs in the workflow, the answer may be yes, no, or not yet.

What would you want the person examining your workflow to understand?

AI, certainly. But also what the work looks like on an ordinary day: the handoffs, the exceptions, the judgement calls, and the things people do because the written process does not cover the case in front of them.

I have spent more than fifteen years building technology. For the past nine, I have been co-founder of Xeco Labs, where we build operational infrastructure for financial firms. I also have a master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Amsterdam.

That combination is why I look at both sides: what the model can do, and what your firm would have to live with after it is introduced.

Some of the firms I have worked with through Xeco Labs

Index People, AssetCare, Carbon Equity, Bits of Stock, OAKK Capital Partners, RegLab.

If that sounds like the perspective you would want in the room, start with the free call.

Fifteen minutes to find out whether the workshop is likely to be useful for your workflow.

Book a free 15-minute call