Most banks have decided modernization is happening. The harder question is where to start. Almost every bank already runs automation in some form: legacy capture, RPA, point-tool ML, or in some cases Tungsten TotalAgility on one workflow. The right next move depends on the starting point, not the destination.
Blog two in our series of six describes two distinct paths:
- Path 1. For banks running legacy IDP, RPA, or point tools. The work is moving up to a single IDA platform, TotalAgility.
- Path 2. For banks already running TotalAgility on at least one workflow. The work is expanding into the next use case.
Download the full banking automation white paper to see how leading banks are picking their path and what the ROI looks like for each.
The Inflection Point Is Already Here
Banking modernization shifted in 2025. Customer expectations no longer compare a bank to its peers. They compare it to whatever digital experience customers had this morning. Regulatory exposure stepped up. The Digital Operational Resilience Act took effect across the European Union in January 2025. U.S. federal banking agencies issued revised model risk management guidance in April 2026 confirming AI and machine learning models fall within SR 11-7 scope.
The technology has matured to deployability. The question for banking leaders is no longer whether AI-driven document automation works. It is which institutions will operationalize it at enterprise scale first, and what competitive advantage that timing produces. Avanade reports that 41 percent of banking professionals now cite automation of risk, regulation, and compliance as their single most compelling AI use case.
Banks that already run automation are not starting from zero. They are choosing whether to enhance, replace, or expand.
Why Path Choice Matters More Than Platform Choice
Most modernization conversations open with platform evaluation. That is the wrong starting question. Banks running legacy IDP, RPA, or point-tool ML solve different problems than banks already on TotalAgility looking to expand.
The path determines three things:
- Where ROI lands first. A Path 1 bank is closing the exception layer. A Path 2 bank is compounding returns on an existing platform investment.
- What the timeline looks like. Path 1 engagements deliver measurable ROI in 2 to 7 months through SentieroAI Bridge. Path 2 expansion is faster, because most of the implementation cost is already sunk.
- What gets unlocked first. Path 1 banks unlock the IDP-to-IDA shift across one or more legacy workflows. Path 2 banks unlock a new use case while the original keeps running.
Platform choice is the easy part of the conversation. Path choice is what determines whether the modernization investment pays back in months or years.
Path 1: Move Up to TotalAgility
Path 1 is for banks running any current automation platform: Ephesoft Transact, Kofax Capture, Kofax Transformation, Captiva, ABBYY, ReadSoft Invoices, AP Essentials, RPA, point-tool ML, or any combination of the above. The goal is consolidating onto a single IDA platform.
The work runs as a three-stage journey:
Stage 1: Analyze (SentieroAI). A 24-hour assessment of the bank’s current capture and automation environment, producing a prioritized modernization roadmap before a single migration decision is made.
Stage 2: Bridge (SentieroAI). Automated migration of up to 60 to 80 percent of legacy configuration into Tungsten TotalAgility, with some document types reaching 100 percent. Legacy systems and TotalAgility run in parallel for the full contract term, eliminating the rip-and-replace risk. ROI lands in 2 to 7 months, against a traditional replatforming benchmark of a year or more.
Stage 3: Orchestrate (Tungsten TotalAgility). TotalAgility becomes the operational platform that runs the bank’s document-driven workflows at enterprise scale, with 95 percent extraction accuracy on documents that previously routed heavily to exception queues.
Path 1 banks engage through Tungsten Automation’s Move Up program. The program provides Day-One SaaS platform access at signing, a scoped Phase 0 Discovery engagement (delivered by Zia under SentieroAI Analyze), bundled professional services advisory hours, and Year-1 pricing relief on multi-year commitments. The legacy environment continues operating in parallel through the full initial contract term.
The economic argument for Path 1 is straightforward. Banks already paying for the automation platform and the manual exception team are paying twice. Moving to TotalAgility consolidates that spend onto one platform with AI built in.
Path 2: Expand Within TotalAgility
Path 2 is for banks already running TotalAgility on at least one workflow. The platform investment is already made. The work is identifying the next workflow to bring inside the same orchestration layer.
Expansion is the fastest payback path in banking automation. Most of the implementation cost is sunk. Most of the integration work to core banking systems, lending platforms, KYC engines, and fraud detection has been done at least once. New use cases plug in rather than build up.
The journey runs through a targeted version of SentieroAI Analyze. Rather than evaluating a legacy environment, Analyze evaluates the bank’s existing TotalAgility workflows: how they perform, where exceptions concentrate, and where the platform connects to adjacent systems that could be brought into scope next. The output is a ranked list of high-ROI use cases ready for the existing platform.
Common expansion paths in banking:
- A bank using TotalAgility for lending intake adds KYC document classification on the same platform
- A bank using TotalAgility for KYC extends into AML transaction monitoring document workflows
- A bank using TotalAgility for fraud case files adds payments exception handling
- A bank using TotalAgility for any document workflow adds AI-driven decisioning for regulated downstream processes
Each expansion compounds the ROI of the original deployment. The exception layer keeps shrinking. The audit chain keeps strengthening. The unit cost of every additional use case drops because the orchestration platform is already running.
How to Tell Which Path You Are On
The path question usually answers itself once banking leaders look at what they are already running.
|
Signal |
Path 1 (Move Up) |
Path 2 (Expand) |
|
Current automation |
Legacy IDP, RPA, point-tool ML, or a combination |
TotalAgility already running on at least one workflow |
|
Starting question |
How do we modernize? |
What is the next use case? |
|
ROI window |
2 to 7 months from Bridge completion |
Faster, because most implementation cost is sunk |
|
First step |
SentieroAI Analyze of the current environment |
Targeted SentieroAI Analyze of the next use case |
Banks that fall in between (running TotalAgility on one workflow but still running legacy capture on others) typically run Path 1 and Path 2 in parallel. They bridge the legacy workloads onto TotalAgility while expanding the existing TotalAgility footprint into new use cases. The two paths are not mutually exclusive.
How Zia Helps Banks Pick the Right Path
Zia leads with Analyze regardless of which path the bank ends up on. The 24-hour SentieroAI Analyze assessment produces a defensible, data-backed read of the current environment with cost-benefit analysis and a ranked roadmap. The path question gets answered before any other conversation begins.
Zia’s banking practice is anchored on Ephesoft-to-TotalAgility migrations, with Kofax Capture and Kofax Transformation in active scope. Zia works closely with Tungsten Automation across the Move Up program, which means SentieroAI is deployed against migrations Zia has already run.
A Top 15 US Bank is currently deploying SentieroAI Bridge with TotalAgility for lending intake under Path 1. The engagement is expected to deliver a 77 percent reduction in manual intake cost, more than $575,000 in annual savings, 15 million documents processed annually, and ROI in under 12 months. Path 2 expansion math is similar in magnitude, with shorter timelines because the platform is already in production.
Why This Matters
- The path determines the ROI window, not the platform choice
- Path 1 (Move Up) delivers measurable ROI in 2 to 7 months through SentieroAI Bridge
- Path 2 (Expand) is the fastest payback path because most implementation cost is already sunk
- SentieroAI Analyze answers the path question in 24 hours, before any migration decision is made
Schedule a Banking Automation Assessment
The path conversation is the most important conversation in banking modernization. The bank that picks the right path gets to ROI in months. The bank that picks the wrong path gets to ROI in years.
Download the full banking automation white paper to see both paths mapped against the regulatory environment, the proof points, and the modernization journey. Then schedule a SentieroAI Analyze assessment with Zia. Analyze runs in 24 hours. The path becomes obvious from there.
If you missed it, you can read part one in our six part series here: Where the Cost Hides in Banking Back-Office Automation for the operational pain framing that makes the path conversation matter.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is AI-Driven Banking Automation?
AI-driven banking automation is the layer that captures, classifies, decides, orchestrates, and audits document-driven banking workflows using AI rather than rule-based capture alone. It covers lending intake, KYC, AML, fraud, and payments workflows. The destination platform for most banks is Tungsten TotalAgility, an enterprise Intelligent Document Automation platform.
How Do I Know If My Bank Should Pursue Path 1 or Path 2?
Path 1 is for banks running legacy IDP, RPA, or point-tool ML and consolidating onto a single IDA platform. Path 2 is for banks already running TotalAgility on at least one workflow and expanding into new use cases. The signal is what is already in production today. A SentieroAI Analyze assessment confirms the path in 24 hours.
What Is the Move Up Program?
Move Up is Tungsten Automation’s commercial program for banks moving from legacy automation platforms onto Tungsten TotalAgility. It provides Day-One SaaS platform access at signing, a scoped Phase 0 Discovery engagement, bundled professional services advisory hours, and Year-1 pricing relief on multi-year commitments. SentieroAI Bridge operates inside Move Up as the migration accelerator.
How Long Does AI-Driven Banking Automation Take to Deliver ROI?
For Path 1 banks moving up from legacy automation, SentieroAI Bridge engagements deliver measurable ROI in 2 to 7 months, against a traditional replatforming benchmark of a year or more. For Path 2 banks expanding within TotalAgility, ROI lands faster because most implementation costs are already sunk and new use cases plug into the existing orchestration layer.