Redefining Financial Research: How Acuity is Building a Human-AI Future

In the fast-moving financial services sector, data is the currency for success and enables ‘on the moment’ decisions. However, success hinges on the data analyst’s ability to find a method out of the data madness and come out with actionable insights. How about intersecting financial wisdom with algorithmic intelligence? That’s what Acuity Knowledge Partners (Acuity), a leading provider of bespoke research, analytics and technology solutions to the financial services sector, is attempting with its Agent Fleet, its agentic AI platform.

Leveraging deep financial expertise and cutting-edge AI, Acuity is trying to script a new playbook. And leading this transformation is Jon O’Donnell, Acuity’s Chief Operating Officer.

In an exclusive conversation with Dataquest, O’Donnell talks about Agent Fleet, which he believes could fundamentally reshape how investment banks, asset managers, and private equity firms operate.

“We’re not replacing domain expertise, we’re amplifying it,” says O’Donnell. “With Agent Fleet, we’re empowering our 6,000+ analysts and industry experts, to move faster, go deeper, and deliver more strategic value to clients.”

The transition from people-led to AI augmented

Acuity, over the last decade, has made its mark in the financial-services sector with its deep domain specialisation in financial research. But now, with the emergence of AI as a mission-critical capability, Acuity is pivoting into a hybrid model, in which AI does the partial heavy lifting, and people predominantly focus and drive insight, with human oversight.

At the fulcrum of Acuity’s AI play is Agent Fleet, a centrepiece of that strategy. What is different in this, one may ask? Unlike general-purpose AI models, Acuity’s platform is built on Agentic AI, a framework where digital agents work collaboratively to execute complex tasks.

“Traditional generative AI like ChatGPT responds to prompts. It’s useful but unreliable at scale, especially in a field like finance where hallucinations can be catastrophic,” O’Donnell explains. “Agent Fleet doesn’t just generate output, it breaks down a task, assigns specialised agents, verifies the outcome, and ensures full traceability to source.”

Giving an element of empiricism beyond theory, O’Donnell walks me through how a typical company profile, a standard task in due diligence and investment analysis, is now done using Agent Fleet. The AI agents pull data from filings, scrape websites, compare financial documents, detect inconsistencies and then present a verified, audit-ready report, all in minutes, not hours.

He also underscores the point that the human analyst remains firmly in the loop, validating flagged discrepancies and shaping the tone or depth of analysis. But the time-consuming, tedious work is now largely handled by AI.

Reimagining engagements and outcomes

The impact isn’t limited to speed or efficiency. O’Donnell notes that Agent Fleet is changing how clients engage with Acuity. The firm now offers not only analyst services, but also outcome-based models, such as paying per risk report, company profile, or benchmarking analysis. There is even a new technology revenue stream from clients directly accessing the platform.

“We’re still a people-led business, but now we’re also a technology-enabled one. Clients can engage with us in multiple ways,” he says. “That flexibility makes us fundamentally different from pure-play tech firms or generalist consultants.”

It’s not just about what’s being delivered, but how. Clients now have access to hybrid teams that combine financial analysts with AI agents trained on client-specific datasets. These agents operate within client environments, using only the data sources and permissions already available, thus addressing security and compliance concerns from the ground up.

Not just promise: Rubber meets the road

Agent Fleet is not a beta experiment. It’s real, says Jon. “Over 50% of Acuity’s analysts and clients are already using earlier versions of its AI tools. The company has quietly been deploying AI-driven workflows for years, even before the explosion of generative AI.”

“We’ve seen productivity jump dramatically,” says O’Donnell. “Tasks that took 60–90 minutes can now be done in 10–15. That doesn’t reduce headcount, it gives bandwidth for analysts to focus on high-value tasks like scenario modelling, competitive analysis, or deal sourcing.”

When I asked him what about the impact on jobs, interestingly, O’Donnell emphasises that AI has not led to job cuts. Instead, clients are retaining their existing teams and asking Acuity to help them go deeper.

One mile deep, one inch wide: Be the expert, not the generalist

As AI reshapes services, Acuity may now find itself overlapping with the territory of big consulting firms. But O’Donnell sees a clear differentiation.

“Consultants are often broad, we are narrow but deep. Our analysts have been doing this for years. And now their knowledge is training our AI agents,” he says.

This depth matters, especially when analysing complex financial disclosures, understanding regulatory nuances, or identifying red flags in private market deals. Agent Fleet’s agents are not just data processors, they are specialists, trained to understand how numbers shift, how risk is reported, and what needs human escalation.

Why a human-AI model works

As AI adoption across industries raises fears of displacement, O’Donnell strikes a balanced note. He again strongly emphasises that this is not a man versus machine argument, it’s man with machine,” he says. “AI changes the skill mix, it creates a strategic blend. But it doesn’t eliminate the need for people. If anything, it pushes them towards more rewarding and strategic work.”

In a time when many AI initiatives are stuck at proof-of-concept, Acuity is quietly executing a bold reimagination of how knowledge work happens in finance.

As O’Donnell sums up, “Agent Fleet isn’t about automating analysts out of existence. It’s about giving them a fleet of AI co-workers, trained by them, working for them, and helping them see farther and think faster.”