Introduction

Corporate cash management is entering a more dynamic phase. AI is sharpening how treasury interprets data, while tokenisation is beginning to reshape how cash and investments move. Real-time visibility and connected platforms are opening new possibilities, but the advantage will sit with teams able to integrate systems, trust their data, and act with confidence.

Liquidity used to be checked at set points in the day. Now it is expected to be visible and deployable almost continuously. For treasury teams, that changes the job. Cash still needs to be protected and available, but it also needs to be positioned more deliberately, across more accounts, currencies and entities, and often at much shorter notice.

A faster operating environment is defining that shift. Settlement cycles are shortening, payments land at speed, and the data that used to arrive in batches is now expected to show up continuously. Treasurers are expected to respond in near-real-time, often across multiple markets and entities, while maintaining tight control over risk and funding. The pressure is not simply to see liquidity, but to act on it faster and with greater confidence.

“The corporate treasury function is on a transformation journey,” says Sam Jacob, Managing Director, Head of Global Liquidity Product at BNY. “It’s shifting from a cash control centre to a real-time liquidity orchestration function with a focus on having the right liquidity in the right place at the right time, while also upholding the core tenets of managing risk, providing liquidity and driving performance.”

What is emerging is not simply a more digital treasury, but a more choreographed one. Liquidity now moves across multiple systems, jurisdictions, and counterparties, often in near-real-time. The pace is faster, with more moving parts, and the cost of being late is felt sooner.

Fragmentation and the visibility gap

In most treasury teams, liquidity sticking points usually come down to visibility, timeliness and integration. Most organisations operate across a patchwork of systems, with data pulled from enterprise resource planning platforms, treasury management systems, bank portals and spreadsheets. The information exists, but it is often delayed, fragmented or difficult to reconcile.

The cost of this challenge shows up quickly. Without a unified view, forecasting becomes less reliable, working capital decisions slow, and opportunities to act on surpluses or shortfalls are missed. Even when the tools exist, they only help if the data arrives in one place, in one language, early enough to act on. 
 

“Treasury teams are under pressure to get a unified view on liquidity, but the reality is they’re often stuck pulling data from multiple fragmented systems,” says Jacob. “What’s often missing is the combination of automation and intelligence harmonised with people workflows to drive decision-making.”

Technology alone is rarely the sticking point. Most treasury environments have evolved over time, with systems layered on top of one another and workflows built around them. Linking those platforms in a seamless way remains difficult. Even when connections exist, data often arrives late or sits in separate pockets, making it harder to use with confidence.

But while technology can provide visibility, it does not automatically change how decisions are made. Treasury teams need the skills, governance and confidence to act on what the data is telling them. Bringing systems together is one step. Using that information decisively is another. 

“It’s not singularly driven,” Jacob says. “It’s the intersection of capabilities, integration and mindset that needs to be aligned to unlock the full value of information.”

From rear-view to real-time

Most treasury teams still work from periodic snapshots of their cash positions. It is a model that has held up for years, but it can struggle to keep pace with faster payment cycles and more volatile conditions. When the information is late, the decision usually is as well. Real-time monitoring is beginning to shift that pattern, replacing static reports with a live view of balances and flows.

Speed matters, but confidence is the bigger prize. When balances and movements are visible in real time, treasury teams can respond earlier to funding needs, deploy surplus cash more deliberately, and adjust exposures before they widen. For organisations operating across multiple currencies, banking relationships, and legal entities, that immediacy can reshape decision-making.

“Traditionally, treasurers relied on daily or even weekly reporting, which meant decisions were often based on outdated information,” says Jacob. “With real-time tools, they’re no longer looking in the rear-view mirror. They’re informed on what’s currently happening and able to look ahead.”

Greater visibility changes the rhythm of decision-making. Instead of reacting to yesterday’s positions, treasury can act on today’s conditions, adjusting funding, investments and exposures with more confidence. Over time, that shift makes the function more embedded in business decisions, helping shape how liquidity is deployed.

AI’s early impact

Much of treasury’s daily workload, from consolidating balances and reconciling accounts to forecasting flows and analysing exposures, still relies on time-consuming manual processes. Here, AI can automate a large portion of that work while helping to improve accuracy and speed.

Cash positioning is an obvious starting point. Automated data aggregation and reconciliation can bring balances together more quickly, reducing the time spent stitching information across systems. Instead of compiling and checking data, treasury teams can spend more time interpreting it, whether that means adjusting funding, reviewing exposures or reallocating surplus cash. The same tools can surface patterns in payment behaviour and working capital that might otherwise take weeks to spot.

“AI can automate much of the manual work around cash positioning and help improve accuracy, enabling a more dynamic, real-time decision-making environment,” Jacob says. “It’s not about replacing the function. It’s about amplifying its scope and the value it brings with better tools and strategic insights.”
 

How treasury approaches risk is also beginning to be shaped by AI. By detecting anomalies, modelling scenarios and identifying emerging exposures, it may eventually help teams anticipate volatility across areas like FX, interest rates and supply chains.

Even so, most treasury teams are in an exploratory stage. Use cases are being tested, often cautiously, as teams weigh the benefits against governance, data quality and control considerations. Trust in automated outputs takes time to build. As with integration, new tools need to sit alongside the right skills and oversight to be used with confidence.

Tokenisation and liquidity pathways

Tokenisation is moving from theory to practice in the liquidity space. In particular, entities are taking steps to integrate blockchain technology with MMFs, offering a sense of how familiar instruments might operate in a more digital environment. For most treasurers, the interest lies less in novelty than in potential practicality: faster settlement, clearer visibility, and the ability to access funds beyond traditional cut-off times.

It is still early days for the market. But a number of institutions are exploring how fund shares might be issued, recorded and transferred using distributed ledger infrastructure. Recent initiatives have focused on representing money market fund holdings and even bank deposits on-chain, with mirrored records maintained alongside traditional books and records. As seen in BNY’s white paper, “The Digital Revolution: Transforming Financial Market Infrastructure,” the analysis suggests that stablecoins, tokenised deposits, and digital MMFs could reach ~$3.6t by 2030. The aim is not to replace existing instruments, but to extend their capabilities, combining the familiar characteristics of MMFs with the flexibility and transferability of digital assets.

“Tokenised MMFs could unlock a new set of capabilities and interoperability for treasurers,” says Jacob. “In an end state where there is real-time asset movement and transferability, clients will have the opportunity to move funds globally at any time while also leveraging the asset class for yield.”

Potential use cases extend beyond simple investment. Tokenised funds could be mobilised as collateral, integrated into automated workflows, or exchanged as part of value transactions. In plain terms, it could mean fewer manual steps and faster transfers.

None of this happens in a vacuum. Regulatory frameworks are evolving quickly, particularly in areas linked to digital assets and programmable money. In the US, the GENIUS Act has established a federal framework for stablecoins, with potential implications for their use in institutional finance. Developments such as this are prompting treasury teams to monitor not just new asset classes but also the broader infrastructure and compliance environment surrounding them.

At the same time, tokenised MMFs are attracting attention as yield-generating instruments that sit within a familiar regulatory perimeter while offering greater mobility and efficiency. For treasurers, the task is to understand how these developments intersect and what they might mean for future liquidity strategies.

“The tools that treasurers use today may not be the ones they use tomorrow,” Jacob says. “Staying agile and reassessing strategies across regulatory, cyber and data considerations will be essential as the industry continues to evolve.“

New technologies will need to integrate with existing systems without introducing additional vulnerabilities or operational risk. Governance, oversight and partner selection, therefore, become central to any modernisation effort.

The case for integration 

For most treasury teams, the more immediate challenge is not adopting new instruments but connecting existing systems. Payments, liquidity management and reconciliation often sit in separate environments, linked through workarounds rather than true integration. Bringing those strands together would give treasury a clearer view of cash movements as they occur, allowing funding needs, exposures, and investments to be managed in step rather than sequentially.

Automation also becomes far more effective in a connected environment. Transfers can be triggered automatically when thresholds are reached, balances rebalanced across accounts and investments adjusted in response to forecasts. Done well, it shortens the loop and improves cash performance. 

“An integrated platform would allow the treasurer to see the impact of every payment on cash position in real-time, address funding needs, and manage risk exposures,” Jacob says. “It would enable informed decision-making that drives differentiated value from the treasury function.”

Achieving that vision is not straightforward. Integration requires alignment across systems, processes and partners. But progress is being made through APIs, cloud-based platforms and ecosystem connectivity. For treasury teams, the question is no longer whether these systems will connect, but how quickly they can be aligned.

“The cycle we’re in right now provides an opportunity for the treasurer to create cross-functional groups that bring together treasury professionals, AI experts and data translators to reshape the future,” Jacob says. “Having those different functional views embedded into the traditional treasury model ensures that insights generated by technology are not only accurate but also actionable and aligned with business goals.” 

Much of this will come down to skills. Data literacy, AI governance and digital finance capabilities are becoming core competencies for treasury teams. Treasurers also must evaluate emerging instruments and platforms with a view to future readiness rather than immediate adoption.

“Through tokenisation, treasurers have the potential to programme and mobilise liquidity across geographies and platforms, which could significantly reduce operational burdens, and create performance improvements,” says Jacob. “It’s important to assess these functionalities and the readiness around them sooner rather than later.”

Getting the choice of partners correct matters too. As technology ecosystems expand, selecting the right banking and technology partners becomes more strategic. Connectivity, scalability and reliability matter as much as innovation.

So while the fundamentals of treasury have not changed, the tempo has. Liquidity still needs to be protected and positioned carefully. What differs is the speed at which it can be seen, moved, and put to work. As systems connect and new tools take hold, the function is shifting from monitoring cash to managing its real-time movement

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