GSS adds AI cloud review tool to sanctions platform

Global Screening Services has partnered with Storm Reply to add an AI-based cloud review tool to its sanctions screening platform. The system is designed to speed infrastructure changes while keeping human approval in place.

The new tool, Cloud Guardian, reviews proposed changes to cloud infrastructure before release and flags items that may need closer attention. This helps engineers separate routine changes from those that warrant more scrutiny, without changing who makes the final release decision.

The move comes as financial institutions face growing pressure to keep sanctions controls up to date. Regulators have highlighted weaknesses including outdated lists, poor screening settings and delays to updates, increasing the need for systems that can be adjusted quickly without disrupting service.

More than 40 billion cross-border transactions are screened each year for sanctions compliance, often more than once to meet different regulatory requirements across multiple jurisdictions. Almost 99% of alerts sent for further investigation turn out to be false positives, adding cost and slowing payments.

GSS is trying to reduce that burden through a cloud-based central screening service designed to cut repeated checks, false positives and investigation times. It raised more than USD $47 million, or about GBP £37 million, in a Series A2 funding round in 2024.

Release process

According to the companies, Cloud Guardian has cut preparation time for more complex infrastructure releases from about two days to less than four hours. Reviews of individual changes that once took around 30 minutes can now be completed in roughly three minutes, allowing engineers to focus on issues identified by the system instead of checking every line manually.

Storm Reply worked with GSS engineers to build the tool as a cloud-native system on Amazon Web Services. The work included testing prompts for the AI model, choosing a model that could deliver reliable analysis at an acceptable cost and integrating the process into GSS's existing release workflow.

Because the tool sits within the current process, GSS did not have to replace existing infrastructure tools or create a separate review track. Its engineers have also developed the expertise to maintain the system internally.

Adam Clarke, Chief Technology Officer at GSS, said: "This development means we can make changes to the infrastructure supporting our sanctions screening service much more efficiently, while retaining the level of control and trust needed for technology used by regulated financial institutions.

"Sanctions screening has to operate in an environment that is continually changing. We want the platform underpinning it to evolve just as quickly, so improvements can be introduced without creating unnecessary operational friction or risk."

AI in controls

The project reflects a broader pattern in financial services, with firms exploring narrower operational uses of AI rather than handing over end decisions in regulated processes. In this case, the technology is being used to analyse technical changes and direct human reviewers to areas of concern rather than approve releases on its own.

Storm Reply said this approach was central to the project. The company is part of Reply Group and focuses on cloud-native systems built on AWS.

Rachel Grunwerg, Partner at Storm Reply, said: "The challenge was to help GSS move faster without weakening the controls around a highly important financial services platform. The biggest opportunity for AI here was not to automate the final decision, but to reduce the amount of manual interpretation engineers had to do before they could make that decision.

"That is where we see significant potential for AI across financial services - helping people work through complex technical information faster, while keeping expertise, governance and accountability firmly with those responsible."