The Cost of Expertise—Humans versus AI-Enabled Automated Agents

Using a Team of AI Agents to Streamline Risk Analysis of Complex Investment Portfolios

Abstract

Ryse, Inc., a portfolio management software company founded in 2006, provides advanced AI-based tools to help clients analyze, simulate, and model complex portfolios across various asset classes. The platform supports financial analysis, risk management, and scenario simulation, empowering users to make informed investment decisions and optimize their strategies with the help of artificial intelligence. The company’s journey began with the Utah Retirement Systems pension fund, which manages over $45 billion in assets today (up from $20 billion in 2006). While this partnership marked a significant milestone, it also revealed major development needs. The platform’s ability to generate more than 50,000 analyses across asset classes created an overwhelming workload for the client’s investment team. Ryse had a choice—either redesign the platform and become an actionable tool that supported the investment management team instead of overburdening it, or hire an army of software support staff to continuously assist and manage client operations.  This case study chronicles the steps—some carefully planned, others taken by chance—that Ryse followed to address these challenges. These steps ultimately culminated in the integration of AI agent technology, a promising advancement that transformed the platform's ability to automate complex processes. The adoption of AI agents was both a product of deliberate innovation and fortuitous developments, positioning Ryse to offer a more efficient, cost effective, and powerful solution for portfolio management.
With the introduction of AI agents, Ryse has maintained its current service offerings while rapidly adding new features, such as news search, market research, key market event summaries, and earnings transcript interpretation. These tools leverage AI agent technology and provide essential support for regular investors who may have limited budgets, while also giving CIOs the ability to scenario test their portfolios. Through onboarding and testing the AI agent technology with existing clients and prospects, Ryse has successfully enhanced the overall service experience for its customer base.