Technology and Operations
In 2025, we advanced the firm’s next-gen transformation with a clear focus on strengthening the foundation that supports growth across all our businesses. Our commitment remains unchanged — to further enhance our operating model to deliver greater resiliency, efficiency, and insight, so that we can meet evolving client and investor expectations with speed, precision, and consistency. This transformation is not episodic; it is structural, driven by the belief that operational excellence is the non-negotiable bedrock of client trust.
“Our mandate is clear: strengthen the platform, reduce operational friction, innovate at scale, and elevate the client experience year after year. That is how we support growth across the franchise and create enduring value.”
Modernizing and simplifying our core capabilities across the firm
Throughout the year, we continued to streamline end-to-end processes, modernize legacy technology, and reduce fragmentation across the enterprise. This cross-business integration is creating a more consistent and reliable delivery model and a stronger, more cohesive platform to support clients globally.
These efforts also included accelerating our technology simplification efforts by consolidating platforms, retiring redundant applications, and standardizing architectures to reduce complexity, lower costs, and strengthen resiliency at scale.
Scaling artificial intelligence with purpose and responsibility
We expanded the use of applied artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning across core operational areas to produce measurable improvements in quality, cycle time, and risk management. Our disciplined approach is to deploy AI responsibly, with governance and safeguards designed to protect clients and the firm. As we prepare for broader agentic AI capabilities, we remain focused on business impact and accountable execution.
“By standardizing end-to-end processes and strategically deploying AI across our product suite, we are achieving enhanced, timely outcomes at scale.”
Ann Fogarty
Head of Global Delivery and Chief Operating Officer of Investment Services
Driving sustainable productivity to reinvest in growth
Over the past five years, our productivity initiatives have delivered approximately $2 billion in cumulative savings, including approximately $500 million in 2025, reflecting meaningful and recurring cost benefits across our technology and operations platform. These efficiencies create capacity for investments in growth areas such as private markets, wealth, and digital assets, modernize and automate our core, and strengthen resiliency initiatives. They also supported disciplined expense management during a period of significant industry and market change.
Building a more integrated, client-aligned delivery model
We continued moving toward a unified operating model that connects technology, operations, and business teams around shared outcomes. Strategic clients adopting our end-to-end target operating model are seeing improvements in stability, transparency, and execution quality. The growth of our global hubs adds capacity, accelerates development cycles, and supports more consistent delivery across markets.
Equipping our people for the next stage of transformation
Our teams remain central to this effort. In 2025, we invested heavily in data, technology, and AI fluency; strengthened decision rights; and reinforced a culture centered on accountability and continuous improvement. We also benefit from a strong leadership bench, combining internal subject-matter experts with high-caliber external hires whose aligned incentives and competitive mindset continue to elevate performance across the organization. These investments help prepare our global workforce to operate in a modern, integrated, and insight-driven environment.
Looking ahead
As we enter 2026, we do so with a stronger foundation, clearer priorities, and deeper alignment across business lines. We have strong momentum in our next-gen transformation, supported by disciplined execution and a leadership team fully aligned on where we need to go next. Our direction is clear: continue strengthening the core, expand capabilities responsibly, and deliver consistently for clients and investors. This is how we build an operating model that endures and how we continue advancing State Street as a trusted partner globally.