Jay Hinton, global head of Product, Data & Analytics, BNY—a global winner in the Most Innovative Banks category—explains the role of BNY’s D&A platform in an evolving financial world.
Global Finance: How does BNY’s shift from a traditional asset servicer to a platform company enhance the Data & Analytics value proposition for asset managers struggling with fragmented middle- and back-office data?
Jay Hinton: We offer software to help align fragmented data. Through our cloud-native data management platform, we give clients the ability to consolidate data across multiple providers and to treat their enterprise data as the golden source.
One way the value proposition has changed is that we can continue to provide services across BNY, such as custodial, asset servicing, transfer agency, and fund services, and we can also help manage the data generated by those services.
We deliver data electronically, reducing file transfers and data fragmentation. The ability to integrate services (like custodial and fund services) with data management really resonates. When clients have a provider who can deliver services and simplify their technology stack, it’s a double win. This focus helps us improve our service delivery and helps clients manage their data.
GF: How does the D&A platform fit into the broader narrative of BNY’s evolution from a traditional financial institution to a tech-forward platform company?
Hinton: BNY is thinking and evolving how we build the future of financial infrastructure for the world. Our Data & Analytics platform focuses on middle- and back-office functions, including ABOR and IBOR [accounting and investment books of record], performance, and data management. As you think about a world where digital assets, tokenization, 24/7 trading, and real-time information transmission are the norm, we serve as the critical bridge between these newer technologies and the existing financial ecosystem.
Data is crucial for mobility and strategy. For example, how does an action on the blockchain interface with traditional books and records? We are part of that story. We power clients on their current software while helping them adopt newer digital components that BNY is building as a leader in tokenization and digital assets. We are key because we sit in the middle and are critical to our client’s daily operations.
GF: Moving a core data operation to the cloud is a massive undertaking. What has been the biggest hurdle in convincing conservative, institutional clients that a cloud-native environment is superior to their internal legacy systems?
Hinton: One of the things we see that resonates with clients is the ability to move to the cloud in the service of greater resiliency. More options help balance newness, which can often be a challenge from a conservative standpoint.
The cloud offers numerous benefits. You can upgrade software faster, changes for new installations are lighter weight, and you get more visibility into the operating environment. Clients find it convincing that they get a better experience with higher uptime, easier changes, and greater expansion.
The biggest hurdle to moving to cloud operations is the cultural, not the technical, element. The legacy system is comfortable because it’s a known quantity. But most clients who have upgraded to the cloud have reported that they wish they had done it sooner and that it’s been a game-changer, enabling them to react more quickly and simplify their lives.
GF: Looking ahead five years, how will this platform have changed the competitive landscape for your clients?
Hinton: What we’ll see is that the clients who really go all in, especially with AI and the new agentic workflows, and think about how data is core, will find that they have a competitive edge. Their willingness and ability to make data a central component of how they think about investment operations is the big unlock.
The future will rely on the ability to gather and interact with data and to think about things from a machine-to-machine communication standpoint. I think the standard for a successful investment firm is the ability to pivot and move quickly; nimbleness and a deep understanding and mobilization of what’s happening inside the firm will become the standard.
