In this new vendor showcase, hear from a curated selection of emerging data providers as they introduce their latest datasets and product launches shaping the future of alternative data.

AI is reshaping the investment process, from research and data discovery to decision-making, portfolio construction and execution. As these capabilities become widespread, where will genuine differentiation come from? This panel explores whether the next edge lies in proprietary data, differentiated signals, better workflows, human judgement, speed - or entirely new sources of alpha.

Funds expect free trials. Vendors foot the bill. Is that fair? Trials can run for months, eat engineering time and end in silence. Many providers say the sales cycle is stacked against them. Buyers say they cannot commit budget to data they have not tested. This debate puts both sides on stage. Should trials be paid, part-paid or credited against a contract? What makes a trial worth running for either side? And as data moves into AI workflows, should vendors charge for MCP access from day one, or is it just another trial by another name?

This panel will address the drivers behind rising demand for nowcasting products; how accurate these models have proven relative to the official prints they aim to anticipate; the practical criteria funds use to select between competing providers and methodologies (coverage, latency, transparency of inputs, track record through regime changes); and the longer-term trajectory of the space as statistical agencies themselves explore alternative and administrative data sources to modernise their own releases.

Who is really sustaining consumer demand, and what could make it turn? Consumer data offer more than an early read on the next release. Drawing on original research, Filippo Pallotti shows how transaction data challenge the "K-shaped" narrative, explain how inflation shifted wealth from savers to borrowers to keep spending alive, and reveal when rate changes and fiscal transfers start to hit demand. The result: sharper answers on growth, inflation and the timing of policy.

From shipping and trade flows to ETF activity, options positioning and alternative measures of economic activity, new datasets are giving macro investors a more granular view of how markets and economies are moving. This panel explores which alternative signals are proving genuinely useful, how investors are combining them with traditional macro indicators, and where overlooked data could offer an edge.

Our AltDating sessions facilitate interactions between data buyers and sellers via a program of personalized matchmaking based on your needs.

Slot 1 - 11:05 - 11:20
Slot 2 - 11:20 - 11:35
Slot 3 - 11:35 - 11:50
Slot 4 - 11:50 - 12:05
Slot 5 - 12:05 - 12:20
Slot 6 - 12:20 - 12:35
Slot 7 - 12:35 - 12:50
Slot 8 - 12:50 - 1:05

MCP has gone from emerging standard to a major building block for agentic AI in little more than a year. But with rapid adoption has come a proliferation of tools, servers, standards and security questions. This panel looks back at the year of MCP - what has worked, what hasn't, where the ecosystem is heading, and what it could mean for how financial firms connect AI agents to data, research and investment workflows.

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Agentic AI is moving beyond assisting investors towards taking on more autonomous roles across the investment process. This panel explores how AI agents could reshape research, portfolio construction, risk and execution, and the evolving balance between human judgement and machine-led decision-making.

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Prediction market odds are now arriving on institutional desks. Exchanges package them. Trading platforms display them. Quants are testing them. The harder question is what the prices actually capture. Some contracts are deep. Others are thin. Some prices move early for reasons that are hard to explain. Regulators are still deciding which markets may exist. This panel brings together those building, using and questioning the data to ask when it can be trusted.

Buying the same datasets as everyone else no longer guarantees an edge. So where should investors put their money and effort? Buy means licensing data from vendors. Build means investing in the teams and infrastructure to get more out of it. Create means generating proprietary data no one else has. This panel weighs the cost, speed and alpha potential of each route, and asks how GenAI is shifting the balance.

Our AltDating sessions facilitate interactions between data buyers and sellers via a programme of personalized matchmaking based on your needs.

Slot 9 - 2:20 - 2:35
Slot 10 - 2:35 - 2:50
Slot 11 - 2:50 - 3:05
Slot 12 - 3:05 - 3:20

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