Redefining Market Access: Why the Right Data Catalogue is Key to Driving Agentic Workflows in Capital Markets Infrastructure

Discover how a well-structured service catalogue can drive automation, enhance AI capabilities, and future-proof Capital Markets infrastructure for a data-driven, digital-first future.

As Capital Markets drives towards a more dynamic, data-driven and digital first future, a major challenge for firms lies in simplifying complex market infrastructures, particularly around exchange connectivity and data services. Modernising these processes is not merely about upgrading technology but about establishing a foundation for true automation, enabling seamless data integration and interoperability that can power agentic workflows. This foundation starts with a well-structured service catalogue—an invaluable tool for defining the ontology of financial markets infrastructure and services.  

A service catalogue acts as the framework for trading infrastructure, defining the entities, relationships, and data types within Capital Markets infrastructure. This structured ontology not only streamlines the management of exchange platforms and connectivity but also enhances the potential for automation and machine learning, including large language models (LLMs). As we explore this transformation, it’s clear that a service catalogue is more than a tool—it’s the blueprint for a smarter, more agile, and ultimately more efficient financial infrastructure. 

Understanding Ontology and the Role of a Service Catalogue 

In data and information systems, an ontology is a formal framework that defines the relationships and categories within a particular domain. In Capital Markets infrastructure, an ontology maps out the interactions between venues, trading platforms, data services, products and rulebooks, and associating them with the relevant technical and connectivity parameters and pricing and access policies. However, the complexity of financial markets infrastructure has traditionally made it difficult to standardise or create consistent ontologies across all these different contributing factors.  

This is where a comprehensive service catalogue comes in. By cataloguing and defining services such as market data feeds, connectivity services, trading interfaces and data sets, the service catalogue serves as a foundation of reference, providing a shared “language” for all market participants to communicate at a functional, technical and commercial level. The right catalogue model allows organisations to manage, track, and update each service with ease, ultimately minimising overhead and breaking down operational silos. 

How Service Catalogues Drive Automation 

At the heart of automation is the need for consistency and clarity—attributes that a service catalogue provides. With a clearly defined set of services, firms can build workflows that are driven by context and data. These workflows are critical in areas like onboarding, connectivity management, and data provisioning, where manual tasks currently consume resources and create bottlenecks. By leveraging a service catalogue to define the parameters for each workflow, firms can significantly reduce manual intervention and standardise the rules of engagement. 

For example, an exchange change notice can be processed deterministically when a service catalogue provides structured data about the intent of the notice and the specifics of the venue, platform, interface, and data sets involved. Rather than relying on manual reviews, the catalogue can automate the validation, processing, and updating of these changes, enabling the front-office to manage connectivity with greater agility and fewer resources. 

Dynamic provisioning, a core capability made possible through well-structured service catalogues, goes even further by enabling services to be activated or adjusted on demand. Firms no longer need to individually configure each technical element for each service but can instead leverage predefined parameters from the catalogue to instantly onboard or adjust services. This significantly reduces the time to market for new services and improves the responsiveness of market infrastructure. 

Enhancing AI and Machine Learning Through Structured Ontology 

A well-defined service catalogue also provides the structured data that AI and machine learning models, including large language models (LLMs), need to perform optimally. Generative AI, for instance, thrives on context. When used to automate tasks within Capital Markets infrastructure, AI models require accurate, consistent inputs to generate actionable insights. Without a service catalogue to define the ontology of the market and provide the model with the appropriate context, AI models may struggle to interpret and process the complex, unstructured information inherent to financial markets. 

By codifying exchange connectivity and data services, a service catalogue enables LLMs and machine learning algorithms to process and analyse data more effectively. For instance, LLMs can interpret exchange interfaces, connectivity updates, and policy changes with higher accuracy when given a structured framework of terminology and relationships from the service catalogue. This makes it possible to automate complex tasks like categorizing and processing exchange notices, troubleshooting connectivity issues, or even predicting infrastructure needs based on historical data trends.  

Future-Proofing Capital Markets Infrastructure 

As the pace of innovation accelerates, a service catalogue not only streamlines current operations but also provides a flexible framework for future growth. Capital Markets infrastructure is always evolving, with new exchanges, regulatory requirements, and data sources emerging constantly. A comprehensive service catalogue allows firms to adapt to respond to these changes in a more deterministic and dynamic fashion, without reworking their entire infrastructure. 

Through modular modernisation, firms can integrate emerging technologies, such as LLMs and dynamic provisioning, into their infrastructure in phases, leveraging the service catalogue as a guide for compatibility and consistency to ensure alignment. This phased approach enables firms to realise the benefits of modern APIs, machine learning, and automation without a full-scale infrastructure overhaul, thus reducing both cost and operational risk.  

Real-World Impact: Reducing Costs and Boosting Efficiency 

 The real value of a service catalogue becomes evident in measurable outcomes. With well-defined, cataloged services, firms can reduce costs associated with onboarding, change management, and troubleshooting. Manual maintenance tasks—such as monitoring data entitlements, managing exchange connectivity services, or processing market access requests—can be automated and monitored and actioned using agentic workflows, freeing up expert resources to focus on strategic initiatives. 

Moreover, the enhanced efficiency offered by a service catalogue-powered infrastructure can create competitive advantages. Firms that can access new markets faster, onboard clients more seamlessly, and manage their infrastructure with minimal disruption will be better positioned to thrive in a rapidly evolving financial landscape. 

Conclusion: Building the Foundations for a Data-Driven Future 

A service catalogue may seem like a simple inventory, but it is, in fact, a foundational component of the future of Capital Markets infrastructure. By defining the ontology for market access and data services, a service catalogue enables true automation, provides valuable context for AI and machine learning models, and establishes a scalable framework for growth. 

 In an industry where agility, efficiency, and innovation are paramount, the importance of a structured service catalogue cannot be overstated. As we continue to advance toward a digital-first, data-driven infrastructure, firms that invest in establishing a strong foundation of catalogued services will be well-positioned to lead the next generation of Capital Markets.