Savings calculatorSTP explainedWhy Midships
Straight through processing, explained for business leaders

Going beyond existing STP limits.

Most organisations have already automated their easy transactions. Rules handle the standard case well, then stop at the exception, and every exception joins a queue for a person. The next value sits in those cases: the ones that need investigation or judgement, but do not necessarily need a person.

Straight through processing today
An exception leaves the automated process and waits for manual handling
With governed AI agents
An eligible exception is investigated and resolved by an agent acting within approved authority

The aim is not to automate every decision. It is to reserve people for the decisions that genuinely need human authority, discretion or review.

1. The same 100 cases

The difference is what happens to the exceptions

The same 100 cases run through two processing models. Existing automation handles the predictable cases in both. Watch what happens to the ones it cannot resolve.

The same 100 cases

Today Rules based automation With a governed exception agent Existing rules unchanged 100 cases arrive Existing rules Completed60 standard cases Wait for a person40 exceptions, every onejoins the manual queue 100 cases arrive Existing rules Exception agent Completed60 standard cases +10 within authorityMore cases straight through Supervisor decides30 cases, investigationand recommendation ready 60straight through40 cases start from scratch with a person 70straight through30 decided by a supervisor, with the work already done

Illustrative cohort. Assumes a quarter of exceptions can be resolved within delegated authority. Real rates depend on the process and must be tested with your own data.

2. What the exception agent does

A digital twin of expert judgement, not of a person

The agent investigates each exception the way an experienced case handler would: it gathers the missing evidence, applies current policy and documented expert criteria, and considers relevant precedent. It captures the repeatable parts of expert reasoning, not human intuition. The business still decides what it may do.

Resolve itWhere the case is clear and within the authority the business has delegated, the agent completes it, with the justification on record.
Prepare itWhere the case needs human authority or discretion, a supervisor receives it with the investigation done and a recommendation ready.
Leave it aloneClean cases carry on through the existing rules. There is no reason to replace automation that already works.
Credit card application
Today
With the exception agent
Outcome
MayaException the agent resolves
Joins the manual queue for an underwriter
Resolved from policy and precedent, no person needed
Card issued straight through, justification on record
DanielException a supervisor decides
Joins the queue, and the underwriter starts from scratch
Investigated, with a recommendation and precedent prepared
One informed decision by an accountable supervisor
SamClean case
Already straight through
Unchanged: nothing to investigate
Card issued by the existing process
3. Judgement is not authority

An agent can recommend approval without being allowed to approve

The business defines what the agent may decide on its own. Every action the agent proposes is checked against that delegated authority before anything happens, and gets one of three answers.

  • ALLOWWithin the agent's purpose and limits. It goes ahead and is recorded.
  • APPROVAL REQUIREDBeyond what has been delegated. It goes to an accountable person with the case prepared.
  • DENYOutside what the agent may ever do. It is stopped and recorded.

Escalation is a governed outcome, not a failure of autonomy.

Learn from every decision, with people in charge

Patterns in supervisor decisions show where the agent's authority could safely grow, or should shrink. Those findings are recommendations only. Authority changes when an accountable business owner approves it, never automatically.

61Cases reviewed
55Supervisor agreed
0Authority changed automatically

Illustrative figures.

4. Where it fits, and where it does not

Start where the queue hurts

The value depends on how many exceptions you have, how much each costs to handle, and whether someone in the business will own the authority you delegate.

Strong candidates

  • Complex insurance and medical claims
  • Underwriting referrals and broker submissions
  • Home lending exceptions
  • Telecoms billing disputes
  • Travel disruption and refunds

Weaker candidates

  • Processes already highly automated, such as clean personal loans
  • Straightforward motor or travel underwriting
  • Any process without an accountable business sponsor
  • Cases where the current straight through rate is already high enough that change does not pay
Exceptions straight throughShould rise as the agent resolves cases that used to queue
Exceptions needing a personShould fall, and arrive better prepared
Decisions a person overturnedNot forecast. Tracked, so authority can be adjusted with evidence

A governed agent can still be wrong. The difference is that it is bounded, attributable and reviewable, so a wrong decision is contained, traced and corrected.

5. The approach

One process at a time

Start with a real exception queue, define the authority, prove the controls, and expand only with evidence.

1
BaselineVolumes, exception reasons, manual cost and outcomes today
2
RedesignBusiness ownership and the boundaries of delegated authority
3
ImplementAgents, integration with existing systems, and runtime controls
4
ProveCorrectness, evidence and operational resilience
5
ExpandWiden authority and scope based on approved performance
6. For business leaders

Where is your next straight through opportunity?

Rules based automation stops at the exception. Governed agents take it further, as far as the business is willing to delegate.

  1. Which of your processes has the largest exception queue, and what does each manual case really cost?
  2. Of those exceptions, how many need a person's judgement, and how many just need someone to investigate?
  3. Who in the business would own the authority you delegate to an agent?
  4. Which decisions would you never delegate, whatever the evidence?
  5. How would you know if an agent's decisions started getting worse?

See how we help you prove it on your own cases.

What sets Midships apart, and how a governed agent gets working on one of your exception queues in weeks.

Why Midships