What Problem Was This Business Trying to Solve?
Shane: Hey there, Hunter, and welcome back to another edition of AI and Automation in Action, where we dive into real-world use cases of automation and AI technologies. You've got a pretty cool use case today. This is a business that has spent years developing their process using legacy platforms that require a lot of manual copying and data entry. Walk me through what we built.
Hunter: Absolutely. This customer was using a legacy database platform locally. That database was storing all of their client data on site. But in order for their clients to access this data, each client had their own replicated copy of that database limited to only their records. Keeping that data in sync between the main database and each client's copy had become a very big challenge.
What Did the New Cloud-Based Solution Look Like?
Hunter: What we proposed and delivered is a cloud-based solution tied to a cloud-based database. It starts with a web app and a single sign-in screen. When a user logs in, their view changes automatically based on their permissions and how they were set up. There are three roles: super admins, admins, and clients.
Super admins get a full dashboard with features the other roles cannot see. From within the application, they can interact directly with the database. They can create new tables, rows, and columns, build custom reports, assign those reports to a specific bank or client, and view all client reports from one place.
How Does the Spreadsheet Analogy Help Explain This?
Shane: Let me step back and frame this more simply. Think of it like an Excel spreadsheet holding shared data. Our client kept the master copy on their servers. Their downstream clients each needed their own individual copy showing only their records, and all of those copies had to stay in sync continuously. Is that a fair description?
Hunter: That is correct. And on top of the sync challenge, getting years of on-premise data into the new cloud system was another major hurdle we had to solve.
How Did They Migrate Years of Legacy Data to the Cloud?
Hunter: For the super admin view, we built a feature called the Import Manager. Admins can drag files in manually and select which company they belong to. Or, on the back end, they can upload 50 files at once and then click Import All. The system runs through them, imports the records, automatically creates the correct tables, and nests everything the way it needs to be organized for each company.
Shane: I can imagine the previous workload was significant. Replicating data for every client, keeping copies current, and making sure the right client only ever saw their data. A mistake there is not just an inconvenience. It is a compliance and security issue. What you have done is give them a simple front end to bring all of that historical data into a centralized cloud application where granular login permissions automatically control what each user can see. No individual copies. One source of truth.
How Does This Solution Handle Security and Compliance?
Hunter: This is a SOC 2 compliant solution at the database level. Super admins can control whether any invited user is required to use multi-factor authentication. There is a full user management page for resetting passwords and MFA settings. For super admin accounts specifically, MFA and related security controls are a requirement, not an option.
Shane: That is a huge shift. A legacy on-premise application makes it very hard to maintain that level of control. Audit trails showing who accessed what, when, and how they got in are difficult to produce from older systems. You have taken two separate problems, managing multiple databases and proving compliance, and solved both in a single platform.
What Features Are Still Being Built Out?
Hunter: The next priority is finishing the custom report builder, specifically getting the column headers to where the client needs them and allowing further customization. After that, we are adding an import flag. If a document is accidentally uploaded to the wrong company, a banner will appear at the top of the super admin dashboard alerting them to review those records before anything is finalized.
How Long Had They Been Using the Old System?
Hunter: At least 15 years. And there was an additional technical burden on top of the age of the system. The legacy database application required a 32-bit installation, which is not standard anymore. Clients frequently had to uninstall their current software and reinstall the 32-bit version just to connect, which created frustration for both the business and its clients.
What Is the Real-World ROI of This Modernization?
Shane: Have you put a number to how many hours this will save?
Hunter: We have not landed on an exact figure yet, but the ROI is already visible. Previously, clients had to wait for the team to manually send over a report. Now, the moment data is updated in the system, clients can log in and access it immediately. That change alone removes a recurring bottleneck from every single client interaction.
Why Does Modernizing Legacy Systems Come Before Adding AI?
Shane: This is a great real-world example of something we talk about often. AI gets everyone excited, but many businesses are still running on applications they have used for decades. The question is not always how to make AI work within a legacy system. It is how to modernize first so that AI and automation can be built on top of a solid foundation. That is exactly the path this customer is on now.
Hunter: Exactly. The biggest challenge with where they were was that the legacy application did not support cloud API access. Now that this customer is on a platform that does, the possibilities are effectively limitless. They can continue to layer on new capabilities over time.
Shane: And the operational benefits are already stacking up. A more automated and modern process, stronger security, faster client onboarding, and no more asking clients to install specific software versions. Now you just send them a link and an invite, and they are in.