---
title: "AI in Fund Administration - Lessons From Private Market Gladiators"
url: https://vestlane.com/blog/ai-in-fund-administration-lessons-from-private-market-gladiators/
publishedDate: 2025-08-14
author: "Polina Medvedeva"
readingTime: 5
description: "From KYC checks to NAV reconciliations, see how bots and private GPTs are already streamlining fund administration."
---

# AI in Fund Administration - Lessons From Private Market Gladiators

*By Ivo Schmiedt (Vestlane) · Stevan Marković (AQVC) · Davendra Patel (Alter Domus)*

---

## **Private Market Gladiators: Episode 3** -  AQVC's fund perspective, Vestlane's tech‑legal expertise, plus rotating insights from top investors, regulators, and influencers.

```blok
{
  "muted": false,
  "autoPlay": false,
  "wistiaId": "bskesym602",
  "component": "WistiaVideoComponent",
  "videoFoam": false,
  "aspectRatio": "",
  "disableLazyload": false,
  "playbackRateControl": false
}
```

When it comes to artificial intelligence, **fund administration is where talk meets reality**. It is the place where subscription packs, KYC evidence, waterfall models, and NAV workbooks either move smoothly - or grind the entire vehicle to a halt.

In Episode 3 of *Private Market Gladiators*, host **Ivo Schmiedt** and co‑host **Stevan Marković** sat down with **Davendra Patel**, Head of AI & Automation at **Alter Domus**, to find out how AI is *actually* being used inside one of Europe’s largest fund administrators.

Patel isn’t theorising; he’s shipping. His team runs **65 live bots** and an in‑house GPT (“**Domus AI**”) with **3,200 sign‑ups** and **2,000 active users**. Together, the trio is dissecting what works, what doesn’t, and what every GP or administrator can copy tomorrow.

---

## **Why Fund Admin Is Ground Zero for AI**

*"I have qualified people doing Excel work. Come on.”* - **Davendra Patel**

Private‑market operations face a brutal equation:

- **Regulations multiply** (EU AML package, EU AI Act).
- **LPs demand faster, cleaner data** (capital‑call notices in minutes, not days).
- **Head‑count budgets stay flat.**

Without automation, the back office becomes a choke‑point. As Stevan Marković put it:

> *My job here at AQVC is to eliminate friction between LPs and GPs … Fund admin is where that friction shows up first.*

> ---

## **Three Real‑World Wins From Alter Domus**

### **1. KYC False‑Positives: From 6 Hours to <30 Minutes**

*“I can’t believe people actually type the name into Google … The bot does it all in seconds now.”* - **Patel**

- **Problem** FinScan hits and Google scrapes consumed up to **six analyst‑hours** per investor batch.
- **Automation** A UiPath bot ingests an Excel list, runs FinScan + adverse‑media searches, and exports a PDF decision pack.
- **Impact** 4‑6 hours saved, false‑negative risk slashed, audit trail generated automatically.

### **2. NAV Reconciliation: 11 Sheets → 20‑Minute Cycle**

*“We replaced 11 spreadsheets and three weeks of work with a 20‑minute pipeline.”* - **Patel**

- **Problem** NAV teams juggled FX sheets, capital‑call trackers, and fee models, all linked by fragile VLOOKUPs.
- **Automation** Python + Azure Data Lake validate headers, cross‑check FX tables, and feed a Power BI dashboard; an RPA wrapper triggers the run.
- **Impact** NAV cycle cut from **3 weeks to ≈20 minutes**. Reviewers now focus on anomalies, not copy‑paste chores.

### **3. Domus AI: A Private GPT for 3,200 Users**

*“We’ve got 3,200 people signed up - about 2,000 use it actively each month, and it’s changed the company from within.”* - **Patel**

- **Architecture** Azure OpenAI in a tenant‑isolated environment; prompts never leave EU data centres.
- **Everyday Uses** Draft investor letters, extract waterfall clauses, convert PDF capital‑calls into JSON, and even debug legacy C# code.
- **Cultural Win** *“People are happier when they’re not doing mind‑numbing work until midnight.”* - **Patel**

**Flywheel Effect:** *“Once one bot goes right, they give us more work.”* - **Patel**

---

## **Governance & Guardrails - Patel’s Playbook**

*“Compliance is the cost of entry. Build guardrails first - then innovate fast inside them.”* - **Patel**

| Guardrail | How Alter Domus Does It |
| --- | --- |
| AI Committee | Legal, risk, security, and ops meet monthly. |
| Human‑in‑the‑Loop | No output reaches a regulator or LP before dual human review. |
| Audit Logs | Every prompt & response stored immutably for 10 years. |
| Data Residency | EU data centres; no public SaaS for PII. |

Ivo Schmiedt underlined the point:

> *We’re not replaced by this. AI should lift the friction away.*

> ---

## **Talent Shift - Hiring for 2025, Not 2015**

*“What a data scientist was before ChatGPT is* ***not*** *a data scientist today.”*  - **Patel**

Patel now screens for:

- **Curiosity over Credentials** Low‑code prototyping beats academic papers.
- **Explain‑Ability** Can they translate embeddings to a fund accountant?
- **Ownership** Small teams, zero micromanagement.

Upskill first: train existing accountants and KYC analysts in prompt engineering before chasing six‑figure ML résumés.

Fund administration is *ground zero* for AI’s impact on private markets. The tech is already chopping cycle times and error rates while keeping human judgment front and centre. Firms that start piloting now will reap those gains; laggards will still be reconciling 11 spreadsheets by hand in 2026.

---

#### **What Is Private Market Gladiators?**

**Private Market Gladiators** is a no-filter discussion series by **Vestlane** and **AQVC**, featuring raw conversations with the people shaping private markets—from GPs and LPs to regulators, tech builders, and lawyers.

---

#### Would you like to become a guest? Reach out below.

```blok
{
  "title": "",
  "component": "ContactFormComponent",
  "successPage": {
    "id": "",
    "url": "",
    "linktype": "story",
    "fieldtype": "multilink",
    "cached_url": ""
  },
  "termsMarkdown": "By clicking \"Submit\", you agree to our [Legal Hub](/legal-hub) conditions."
}
```