Audrey Costabile opened with an observation from our Buy Side Day that the AI conversation has matured. Where once the questions centered on what AI even is and whether it's a "black box," this year's discussions were far more specific. What problem are you solving? How do you measure success? And how do you backtest it?

Alex Morris - a client of Clearwater Analytics - agreed, framing the current moment as less about incremental trading improvements and more about making portfolios and content radically more accessible to investors. The conversation also turned to markets, Costabile flagging a striking idea raised during the event, that elevated rates may partly reflect sovereign credit risk rather than growth expectations alone.

This is a factor, she said, that investors are only beginning to price into portfolio decisions. Both panellists returned repeatedly to the theme of human judgement, arguing that no amount of data or automation replaces the relationships and instinct needed to navigate genuinely volatile, unexpected markets. On the question of AI being a disruptor and not an enabler, Morris was direct.

He suggested t's a full paradigm shift, not just a tool. However, he voiced real concern about preserving intuition and independent thinking as reliance on AI deepens, both for his own team and for the next generation entering the industry.

Costabile agreed the industry is still very much figuring out when and how AI use is appropriate, noting she's already seen research that leans on it inappropriately. Asked for one piece of advice for fixed income firms right now, Morris pointed to the long bond and long TIPS as an unglamorous but reliable answer to a lot of current uncertainty. Costabile's advice was simpler still: do your research. Watch the full conversation below.