Formulary
Published
“AI will enable domain experts who are deeply engaged with the cognitive experience and process.”
On September 24, as part of the Formulary Financial Thought Leadership Series, together with Human Ventures we gathered clients, partners, and leaders across financial services for a fireside chat with Dr. David Ferrucci.
Moderated by Dr. Jane Conway, former Head of Data Enablement, Analytics and Digital at Apollo Global Management, Inc. the conversation delved into the opportunities, risks, and challenges of increasingly powerful AI.
Dave led the team behind IBM Watson’s Jeopardy! win and later directed AI at Bridgewater Associates. Today he is Chief Technology & AI Officer at Unqork and an advisor to Formulary Financial.
Key takeaways for investment firms deploying AI across their organizations, including operations and fund administration:
1. Match the method to the decision
Probabilistic AI is powerful when you can play the odds. Operational and regulatory work demands precision. That often means using AI to write a reliable program rather than letting an agent make the call on every run.
2. Ask where the answer came from
On Jeopardy!, Watson showed viewers the answers it was weighing and how confident it was in each. That one panel changed how people understood AI. Most LLMs don’t show their sources by default, so in high-stakes work, ask for the source every time.
3. Argue with it
Most people still use AI like search: they ask a question and take the answer. Models tend to adapt to what they think you want to hear, so the real value comes from pushing back and making the model defend its reasoning.
4. Accountability does not transfer
AI makes experts faster and sharper, but only when they know what good looks like and own the outcome. As Dave put it, “In the end, I’m going to hold a human accountable.”
5. Budget for AI the way you’d budget for people
When people say AI is expensive, Dave asks, “Relative to what?” Few CFOs would give every employee a blank check to hire contractors, yet many firms roll out AI that way. Tie each use to the value you expect from it.
These points hit close to home for us. At Formulary Financial, our mission is to be the most reliable operations partner to investment firms. We’re building responsible, secure AI for fund administration, where every number has to be right and someone has to stand behind it.
Thank you, Dave, for a candid conversation, Heather Hartnett and the broader Human Ventures team for kicking off our inaugural series. And of course, a heartfelt thank you to our broader community of investors (Serena Ventures, Acrew Capital, Company Ventures, Khosla Ventures), clients and collaborators (LemonEdge, Rho, OpenAI, Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres, and many others).
