Tech Partnerships: The New Alpha

This week brought a set of signals that the asset management industry is shifting faster than most people realize. Not because of volatility or macro pressure, but because of something quieter: a growing expectation that firms need to modernize their technology, partner more deeply with fintech, and get their internal data ready for AI. The new competitive edge isn't size. It's how well a firm can plug into a modern tech stack and move quickly.

One of the clearest indicators comes from a new global survey released by PwC, which you can read here: PwC Global Asset and Wealth Management Survey.

Most headlines focus on AUM projections, but the more important signal sits underneath. Institutional allocators increasingly prefer managers who demonstrate real technology capability. Not exploration. Not vague AI interest. Tangible operational readiness. And if it feels like we keep gravitating toward articles like this, it's because we do. We can't help but notice the signals pointing to AI-ready data becoming the real priority for firms.

This shift is already influencing behavior inside asset management organizations. Budgets are moving away from incremental research expansion toward modernization that includes data readiness, workflow automation, and deeper partnerships with technology providers. These shifts rarely make headlines, but they show up in how RFPs are written, how teams are staffed, and how quickly firms are willing to experiment with new workflows.

McKinsey made a similar observation in a recent analysis. They estimate that AI and automation could affect 25-40% of a typical asset manager's cost base. You can read the analysis here: McKinsey: How AI Could Reshape Asset Management Economics

Those gains won't come from chat interfaces or experimental pilots. They'll come from modernizing the underlying workflow layer, including how information is captured, structured, moved across teams, and documented and shared. Firms that begin this transformation now will feel like they're running downhill. Firms that delay will be playing uphill catch-up for years.

We've been hearing a consistent pattern on recent calls. Firms are setting up AI committees, but most aren't making tangible progress or getting real work done. These committees often stall, hesitate to take risks, and get overwhelmed by the flood of products and initiatives competing for attention.

Our approach starts at what we think is the foundation of how you test, find, and roll out real AI initiatives firm-wide: by getting data AI-ready and connected to a hub that listens for firm activity as it happens and organizes it. Then it doesn't matter what initiatives, LLM models, agents, or third-party products you want to connect. You'll have the groundwork to future-proof what's next. An API for your firm's brain.

All of this points to a simple reality. Tech partnerships are becoming the new alpha. Not in the portfolio sense. In the operational sense. Managers who integrate modern tooling and stand up AI-ready workflows will outperform operationally, make decisions faster, and run more aligned teams. And they'll do it without reinventing large parts of their internal stack.

This is the reason we built Basis. The industry doesn't need another research window. It needs a foundation that makes internal data usable, simplifies workflows, and makes insights easier to share across PMs, analysts, and leadership. We help firms move from fragmented information to aligned intelligence.

For everyone in this community, the takeaway this week is straightforward. Take an honest look at your internal workflows. Are analysts still chasing documents? Are research notes, models, and emails scattered across systems? Are PMs getting the context they need without having to dig for it? These are not small inconveniences. They're the core barriers that determine whether a firm can leverage AI at scale.

If you want help thinking through where your organization sits on the readiness curve, we're always here to talk it through. The pace is picking up, and the firms that modernize early will define what asset management looks like in 2030.

~Ryan Erickson, Founding Executive

About Shift
Investment research shouldn't be this hard. Shift turns your firm's scattered knowledge into powerful insights with AI built for how you actually work. We're a team of builders and finance experts based in Charlottesville, VA.