Smooth velocity for AI character movement

I’m creating an AI character which inherits from the “Character” class, and uses behaviour trees, blackboards, EQS, and the character movement component (as is the expected way). I have the smooth rotation of my character working, but the problem is that each time the character changes the direction he is running, the movement velocity stops instantly, and then accelerates in the new direction. It’s like he thinks he’s reached the goal and so immediately stops moving.

How can I smooth this out?

Behaviour tree:

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