Alternative Data Weekly #244
Theme: Brains, Bots & the Battle for Trust
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QUOTES
"Everyone wants to jump on the AI bandwagon, but racing ahead without securing data integrity or ethical sourcing is a shortcut to disaster. Data governance shouldn't be an afterthought in the rush to modernise, it should be the blueprint and businesses must take an innovation AND customer approach to unlock better experiences, stronger loyalty and long-term success.” Richard Bovey, Chief for Data from AND Digital
News
Pods
Charts
Final Thoughts (Trust is the goal)
#1– Solomon Kahn published Selling Data Part 2 - Packaging & Positioning. June 2025
My Take: Find part 1 here. “Data is only valuable to the extent that it solves a problem.” I like his idea of focusing on the 1-2 highest value use cases and delivering value. Identify whether your data is asset is unique, timely, and granular … then deeply understand what problem your data solves. Price & deliver accordingly. Easy, right?
#2 – Dharmesh Mistry published Agentic banking: Architecting the "single brain". June 2025.
My Take: The author shares a comprehensive list of things to consider when evaluating agentic workflows, specifically banking workflows. There is enough work here to keep people busy for a generation.
Of most interest to me was MCP. “MCP ensures that agents can seamlessly exchange data, share contexts, and understand each other's outputs.” This is a big lift.
Of course, I have to highlight the fact that “alternative data analysis agents“ are included. These agents will bring in relevant data from disparate sources that users may not even know exist.
#3 – Timothy B Lee published The first copyright ruling on generative AI training is a win for AI labs. June 2025.
My Take: As we think about monetizing data, moats, and where the most value flows with AI, we should watch these court rulings. There will be implications for data owners. This ruling was not definitive and still leaves some open questions.
Probably the most interesting comment from the judge was that “…Authors cannot rightly exclude anyone from using their works for training or learning as such.”
But the ruling followed with, “…if a chatbot was caught generating copyrighted material, that might change the legal analysis. So I expect that lawyers at leading AI labs will be pushing to beef up the copyright filters on their products.”
BONUS: Several articles have been published recently reacting to MIT’s “Your Brain on ChatGPT” publication. Does ChatGPT make us dumber? Several Authors published Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task. June 2025.
Steffi Kieffer published The Art of Looking Twice. June 2025.
“The MIT study shows one thing clearly: people who outsource their essays to ChatGPT lose the ability to write. It's like e-bikes: rely entirely on the motor and you'll be gasping when the battery dies.”
Cassie Kozyrkov This is Your Brain on ChatGPT. June 2025.
“…if you get a machine to do your homework without engaging with the content, you don’t learn the material. My goodness. I suppose next we’ll learn that using a forklift doesn’t build your biceps. Don’t test my love for you, MIT.”
What else I am reading:
Check out Neudata’s survey: 2025 'Future of the data industry'.
Zack Cohen & Seema Amble published Faster, Smarter, Cheaper: AI Is Reinventing Market Research. June 2025.
Travis May published Meta’s Bet on Scale AI Is Just the Beginning of the AI Data Wars. June 2025.
Jakub published AI in Quantitative Investing: JPMorgan’s D.A.V.I.D., BloombergGPT, and NL2SQL Challenges. June 2025.
David Rowlands & Carl Carande published KPMG launches KPMG Workbench: a multi-agent AI platform, transforming client delivery and ways of working across the global organization. June 2025.
Rob Sanchez published Leveraging Data-Driven Marketing In A Shifting Economy. June 2025.
SoFi and Benzinga Announce New Partnership to Power Next-Generation Investment Research
Dan Entrup’s But can I get it in Excel?. June 2025.
Jason Derise published Framing the Solution: Tracking the Real Impact of Tariffs with Alternative Data (Part II). June 2025. (Part 1)
Source: Damian Puodziunas published Strategic Data & AI Insights from a Former McKinsey CDO: Mohammed Aaser. June 2025.
My Take: Interesting view from the frontlines. How are businesses using data products? The key is to work backwards from the business problem.
5:00 - Building data products that solve real problems. Validate & test. Make sure there is demand before you build.
How? Before you start building…ask a lot of questions. Open-ended questions are best. The goal is to really understand the pain of the business users.
Will it matter where the data is stored when we are fully engaged with AI?
I’ve heard this referred to as the separation of the “system of record” (i.e. your CRM) from the “system of action” (i.e. your email & existing day-to-day workflows).
“Understanding the workflows” is the key.
Domo process: data product sprint. 2-3 week very intensive consulting engagement with customers … at the end of which Domo delivers 5 things:
Business value & cost.
Current and future state workflow diagram.
Data health assessment.
Get UX person to design & build a prototype.
SOW.
Highlights (36-minute run time)
Minute 01:30 – Interview starts; background.
Minute 04:00 – approach data projects like a startup.
Minute 06:00 – focus on the business problem.
Minute 11:00 – what data leaders want you to ask.
Minute 13:30 – why data is important.
Minute 16:00 – using AI for complex tasks.
Minute 20:00 – connecting all your data.
Minute 25:00 – how business software is evolving; the end of SaaS?
Minute 31:00 – importance of managing change with AI.
Source: Peter Baumann published Peter's Data Law's. June 2025.
BONUS: Harry Campbell published Big Apple Bound: Waymo Eyes Expansion into New York City. June 2025.
Let me know if you have any good sources of information I am missing. Subscribe To Harry’s posts here.
I find the advancement of Autonomous Vehicles fascinating. Our entire culture is built around the automobile. This is going to change.
Passenger retention is strong.
The biggest change between 1985 and 2025 was the ease of communication.
The biggest change between 2025 and 2065 will be the ease of transportation.
Child: “What’s an Uber?” Adult: “It’s like a Waymo, but with a driver.” (link).
Trust as the end goal
AI does not help with trust.
Brand becomes more important than ever.
From Content Marketing Guru Joe Pulizzi.
“My take on the state of content marketing in 2025? It’s noisy, fragmented, and largely misunderstood. We're in an era where the tools have gotten better, but the intent has gotten worse. AI has made it easier than ever to create content, but it hasn’t made it easier to build trust, which is still the end goal. Trust takes time, and most content marketing programs look like shorter campaigns.”