Perspectives AI Is Rewriting Risk — Are You Ready?
Mar 12, 2026
Andrew DeMond, head of analytics research platform and governance at MSCI, focuses on model governance and AI in risk workflows. Hitendra Varsani, head of equity index R&D at MSCI, drives AI-powered index innovation. They discuss AI compressing workflows from weeks to minutes, agentic systems automating multi-step tasks, risks from model concentration, and the need to tie models to firm data for reliable, auditable outputs.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
AI Collapses Index Production Timelines
- Embedding AI in index-building collapsed request turnaround from weeks to days and aims for same-day delivery.
- Hitendra Varsani describes AI orchestrating tasks that previously required multiple subject-matter experts.
Falling Cost Raises The Competitive Bar
- The cost of intelligence falls both via cheaper model compute (tokens) and lower cost to achieve analytical outcomes like coding and data processing.
- Andrew DeMond warns this raises the baseline skill level and pushes firms to invest in custom analysis and private data for edge.
From Days To Minutes For Shock Response
- Risk teams can move from days to minutes when assessing shocks (tariffs, geopolitics) by asking AI to map portfolio exposures, supply-chain and benchmark comparisons.
- Hitendra Varsani notes AI returns exposure analyses in minutes but humans still choose responses.