Does AI change everything in data licensing?
Abstract
The paper explores the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on data licensing practices, particularly in the financial services. The authors discuss the rapid emergence of the technology and the resulting pressures on the data providers and looks to answer the question of whether existing data licensing frameworks need a fundamental re-think or can be adapted or maintained. The scope of the paper includes examining the use of market data in the financial markets, highlighting the complexities. The reader can expect to take away a good understanding three distinct types of data licensing (individual, application and redistribution) and the principles underpinning them giving ‘real’ examples to help with that understanding. The paper then goes on to discuss the relationship between AI technologies and the long-established data licensing practices and how at the heart of everything is the use case or how the authors refer to it as the ‘what not the how’. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
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Author's Biography
Stefan Reichenbach has been a leading force in business model innovation within the financial information industry for over two decades. In the 2000s, he pioneered the entry of information providers into carbon markets. In the early 2010s, he helped reshape market data services by integrating research and analytics capabilities. He later led Thomson Reuters’s Benchmark business through a period of regulatory transformation in the wake of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) scandals, adapting the business model to meet new European standards. Over the past five years, Stefan has driven the monetisation strategy for London Stock Exchange Group’s (LSEG) Data and Analytics division, with a focus on packaging and pricing strategy, enterprise deal structures and — more recently — licensing frameworks for artificial intelligence (AI)-driven applications. Alongside his executive responsibilities, Stefan brings his expertise in value creation to a range of board roles, including representing LSEG on the board of Citywire. He has contributed to executive education programmes and is a co-author of a recently published book on digital assets. Stefan holds an MA in Economics from the University of Cambridge and an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford. He lives with his wife and two (increasingly grown-up) children, and enjoys cooking, hosting dinner parties and playing any and all racquet sports.
Debbie Lawrence is Group Head of Data Management and Strategy and boasts a 25+ year career in financial services leading data strategy, acquisition and rights management and data governance responsibilities in the data and analytics division at London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). She is a passionate advocate for the need for transparency into data rights and usage as well as the importance of proper controls in order to protect intellectual property (IP). Her journey began in South Africa with Reuters, followed by a stint in Geneva focusing on emerging markets which fuelled her passion for all things data before moving to London to continue her career with Thomson Financial, which quickly became Thomson Reuters. She is committed to financial data excellence, emphasising the pivotal role of data interoperability to aid data discovery, drive insights and deliver customer value. She lives in SW London with her teenage son.
