Quant in the Age of AI: A Surrender to the Machines?

Jay Doherty is a seasoned strategic sales leader in the Financial Services and SaaS FinTech sectors, with a strong track record of success in complex sales, client acquisition, and account management. His expertise spans data management, analytics, SaaS platforms, and portfolio trade execution. Jay has consistently delivered high-value results, closing multi-million-dollar deals with major institutional clients such as CalPERS, CalSTRS, and Franklin Templeton. His ability to communicate effectively with C-suite executives and his deep understanding of investment platforms have made him a top performer across multiple organizations.

Throughout his career, Jay has held leadership roles at prominent firms including Alpha FMC, OnCorps AI, State Street/Charles River Development, Morgan Stanley, and Charles River Development. At Alpha FMC, he currently leads the Investments Tech & Data division, focusing on front and middle office transformation initiatives. Previously, he served as Global Head of Sales at OnCorps AI, where he built the sales process and go-to-market strategy for an AI-driven reconciliation platform. His tenure at State Street and Charles River Development was marked by numerous accolades, including multiple President’s Club awards and recognition as a top global revenue producer.

Kathy McDermott has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Kathy, who joined Cutter Associates in 2011, has authored multiple Cutter Research reports on a wide range of topics. She spent ten years as a consultant for a variety of asset management firms, with a focus on business analysis for front- and middle-office projects. Kathy was previously the senior business analyst, equity trading systems, at Wellington Management, specializing in the firm’s proprietary electronic and basket trading applications. Earlier in her career, Kathy worked for Thomson Financial Services (now Thomson Reuters), supporting FirstCall and PORTIA clients in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and Thailand, and later went on to manage PORTIA implementations. She also worked at LongView (now Linedata) as an account manager and then product manager of electronic trading. Kathy earned her bachelor of arts in mathematics from Hamilton College.

Recent research assignments and publications include the following:

• Alternative Data and the Expanding Universe of Investment Information
• Cutter Benchmarking: Data Management
• Cutter Benchmarking: Market Data Administration
• DataOps: In Theory and Practice
• Enabling Data Analytics
• The Evolving Front Office Support Model
• Evolving Data Governance: Building a Data Culture
• Making Snowflake Part of Your Modern Data Platform
• Managed Data Services
• Market Data Administration
• Order Management Systems
• Outsourced Trading: Has the Time Come?
• Reference Data Management Solutions

Alijah Poindexter is an experienced professional in financial services research and consulting, with a background spanning banking, healthcare, asset management, and fintech. He joined Cutter Associates in 2025, where he supports the firm’s research initiatives with a focus on research production and design, analysis, and content development. He has co-authored reports on investment data platforms, data management, and investment management trends. Prior to Cutter, Alijah was a senior research associate at Datos Insights, producing market research on commercial banking, digital payments, and healthcare payments. He also led multiple client consulting engagements, delivering strategic, data-centric advisory work. Earlier in his career, he served as associate editor at Bank Automation News, where he focused on banking coverage and industry events, and held program and research analyst roles. Alijah earned his BBA from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee.