In this episode of Channel Insider Partner POV, Katie Bavoso hosts Art Amador, co-founder and COO of QuantumStreet AI, an IBM fintech partner using AI to transform wealth management and investment. Amador and his team focus on providing wealth managers, banks, and financial institutions with real-time data to make smarter investment decisions.
From the outset, Amador emphasizes the value of using AI in the financial sector. He says, “We’re on a mission to help investors make smarter, data-driven investment decisions.”
Amador’s role highlights a critical gap in the investment world, where information overload can cloud decision-making. QuantumStreet AI seeks to streamline the process by leveraging AI, enabling investors to make smarter, data-backed choices.
Listen to the podcast:
Watch the video:
The founding story of QuantumStreet AI
Bavoso presses Amador to share the origin of QuantumStreet AI, asking, “How did QuantumStreet AI come to be, and how did IBM come into the picture?”
Amador dives into the company’s backstory, recalling the time at UC Berkeley when he met his co-founders, Chida and Chris. Inspired by their studies on investing, equity strategies, and hedge funds, the trio began to notice a significant issue in the market.
“We had some of the smartest investors come in, and they were all focused on one or two things,” Amador says, pointing out how different investors zeroed in on either fundamental data or price but rarely combined both approaches.
This insight led the founders to imagine a platform that could merge fundamental, macro, and technical data, alongside news—essentially “unstructured data,” which Amador says accounts for 90% of the data environment today. The goal was to bridge these silos and help investors make more informed decisions by offering a holistic perspective. The company was born out of this vision to create a smarter, data-centric, and AI-driven investment solution.
From small asset managers to major global banks
When Bavoso inquires about the company’s clients, Amador explains that QuantumStreet AI started by working with a small asset manager. “We started working with a very small asset manager at first back in 2017. AI was still kind of in its infancy. You didn’t have the big ChatGPT moments that we saw more recently. And so back then, we were pioneering the idea of applying AI technology to the investment process,” he notes.
The early days were challenging, as AI wasn’t as widely adopted in 2017 as today. However, the company’s determination to use AI to drive investment decisions attracted interest from larger institutions.
Amador elaborates that their clients today are predominantly global banks, which makes sense as these institutions often have the resources and regulatory frameworks to adopt AI-first strategies. “We got a lot of interest from various financial institutions, and we started actually working with banks first,” he says, pointing out that banks understood the science and math behind AI, making them early adopters.
However, asset and wealth managers are following suit, highlighting the growing acceptance of AI in financial decision-making.
IBM’s role in scaling QuantumStreet AI
Bavoso, intrigued by IBM’s involvement, asks, “How did IBM come into the picture?” Amador responds, explaining that IBM’s AI technology played a crucial role in QuantumStreet AI’s growth. After testing various natural language processing engines, they found IBM’s platform to best fit their needs.
“We looked at all the different natural language processing engines out there and tested them because our commitment was, and still is today, to be on the best-performing platform specific to our application. We tested multiple platforms and uncovered that IBM’s platform was the best for our use case,” Amador asserts.
He further explains that IBM’s support didn’t stop with technology. QuantumStreet AI became part of the IBM Global Entrepreneur Program, which provided them with valuable resources, including six-figure credits that allowed them to operate for the first year and a half.
Later, they joined the “With Watson” program which helped them market their use of IBM technology and amplify their reach. This partnership with IBM provided the infrastructure for QuantumStreet AI’s solutions and bolstered their credibility in the industry.
Expanding beyond U.S. borders
Bavoso delves into QuantumStreet AI’s international expansion and recent collaboration with BNP Paribas to bring services to Brazil. She asks, “So, where are your services available? Are you worldwide?” Amador clarifies that QuantumStreet AI’s journey started with U.S. equities, but as its client base grew to include international players like HSBC and BNP Paribas, it had to expand. “We started analyzing U.S. companies, but our customers, like HSBC and BNP Paribas, are global,” Amador explains. The need to serve multinational clients pushed the company to cover different regions and asset classes, such as bonds, commodities, and other alternative investments.
Building client relationships: More than just transactions
Bavoso steers the conversation towards the nature of QuantumStreet AI’s customer relationships, asking for a success story where they met a customer’s need.
Amador’s response underlines the value of treating clients as partners. “We think of IBM as partners, and we think of our customers as partners too,” he notes. “It’s really like a three-way partnership,” involving QuantumStreet AI, the client, and their technology vendor, IBM.
A notable example is BNP Paribas, which wanted to create an AI-powered index covering multiple asset classes across various regions. They aimed to include everything from U.S. equities to Japanese bonds, minus agriculture commodities. QuantumStreet AI stepped in to help design this index, guiding BNP Paribas through what was possible on their system and working closely with their team.
“Our relationship doesn’t just stop at building the index,” Amador says. “AI still requires a lot of education around it. So we help them engage in go-to-market strategy as well.”
Businesses can learn from this approach by focusing on long-term relationships, not just short-term transactions, to build trust and drive mutual success.
Navigating the ethics of AI
As artificial intelligence becomes more prominent in business, ethical concerns around its use are at the forefront. Bavoso brings up the topic of AI laws, asking, “How does IBM help you navigate the shifting landscape behind that when it comes to AI?”
Amador emphasizes the importance of explainability, transparency, governance, and ethics, noting, “We want to focus on our technology and application, but we also want to be ethical. And I think IBM is a leader when it comes to trust, credibility, and ethics in the AI space.”
The growing regulatory discussions around AI make it imperative for companies to align with ethical standards to stay ahead of the curve. As QuantumStreet AI has done with IBM, partnering with ethical leaders can ensure compliance with future regulations and build trust with clients and stakeholders.
Tune in to the video or podcast above for more insights from Katie Bavoso and QuantumStreet AI‘s COO Art Amador— and be sure to like and subscribe for future interviews with solution providers and thought leaders, plus special episodes and opportunities!
