THETRADETECH DAILY agenda
THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF TRADETECH 2026
TradeTech- Buy Side Day, Tuesday 21st April
Times may not be 100 % accurate – please check the event app for the most accurate schedule.
08.40 REGISTRATION: WELCOME BRUNCH Grab a coffee and tuck into a luxurious spread, whilst you network and enjoy long overdue catch ups with your colleagues and buy side peers.
09:00 AI LABS AI in action: practical tools and use cases for the buy-side trader ** Pre-booking required- open to 25 participants per AI Lab ** AI Labs: Explorer- For traders new to AI, looking to understand and evaluate the most relevant tools for their workflows. AI Labs: Practitioner- For experienced traders and quants ready to build, code, and apply AI-driven solutions in practice. AI Labs: Strategist- For heads of desk aiming to set an AI adoption strategy, prioritise projects, and manage governance.
AI LABS: EXPLORER Navigating the AI toolkit: How can traders identify, assess, and adopt the right solutions? This introductory lab gives traders a guided tour through the fast-growing AI landscape-cutting through hype to highlight the tools, platforms, and plug- ins with the greatest potential for trading workflows. Participants will learn how to evaluate emerging solutions, from natural language search to order routing optimisation, and match them to real desk challenges. Expect hands-on demonstrations, adoption tips, and practical guidance on avoiding common pitfalls when integrating AI for the first time. Host: Dr Martin van der Schans, Senior Trading Researcher, Robeco
09.40 WELCOME ADDRESS: Henry Wallis, Head of Strategy, Financial Markets, WBR Capital Markets 09.45 Chairperson’ s Opening Remarks: Julia Streets, MBE, Founder & Chair, Streets Consulting
AI LABS: PRACTITIONER Applying AI in practice: How can traders use coding, dashboards, and models to generate real impact? Designed for traders and technologists ready to get hands-on, this lab focuses on practical AI applications in trading workflows. Participants will learn by doing- from building dashboards and writing simple code, to turning raw market and trading data into AI-ready insights. Real-world use cases will show how to integrate these tools into execution, risk management, and workflow automation, enabling attendees to apply new capabilities immediately in their own environments. Host: Erik Olsvik Dengerud, Quantitative Trader, Norges Bank Investment Management
Designing the Desk of the Future
AI LABS: STRATEGIST Road-mapping AI adoption: How can trading leaders design internal tooling strategies that deliver scale and control? This lab focuses on the leadership perspective- helping heads of desk set a strategic direction for AI integration. Through interactive discussion, participants will map internal use cases, prioritise investments, and outline governance frameworks to balance innovation with risk management. Topics include building in-house versus partnering with vendors, aligning AI with wider technology modernisation plans, and defining the skill sets future trading teams will need. Host: Michael Steliaros, Global Head of Portfolio Implementation, Research & Trading, ADIA Host: Motaz Nofal, Head of Trading Research & Analytics, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan
09.50 TECHTALK: Rethinking from the ground up: Re-engineering the trading desk to drive optimal performance in the next market era For years, buy-side trading innovation has been constrained by legacy workflows, costly vendor relationships, and the belief that meaningful change demands high-budget overhauls. Today, a new wave of forward-thinking leaders is proving otherwise- showing how targeted, low-cost, and high- impact changes can redefine how the desk interacts with markets, sources liquidity, and delivers better execution outcomes. Moving beyond retrofitting existing models, this keynote will explore what it means to reimagine the desk’ s core design, challenge entrenched assumptions about technology and cost, and rebuild around adaptability, control, and smarter use of data. Peder Viervoll, Head of Quantitative Trading, Norges Bank Investment Management
10.10 BUY SIDE LEADERSHIP OUTLOOK PANEL: Leading the desk forward: which initiatives are buy-side leaders investing in over the next three years to set their desk up for success? In this session, four buy-side heads of trading share unfiltered perspectives on where they’ re placing their biggest strategic bets- and what they’ re leaving behind. From broker list redesign and bilateral partnerships to technology stack modernisation, leaner team structures, and the evolving role of AI, this discussion will explore how desks are being reshaped to meet the demands of the next three years. Expect honest views on the future of execution, the shifting balance between quants and process-driven traders, and what it means to scale trading without scaling headcount. Whether it’ s building more modular infrastructure, navigating changing order flow dynamics, or adapting to increasing product diversification- this session will surface the critical calls that are set to define the future of buy-side trading. Michael Daiss, Regional Head of Trading, EMEA, DWS Simon Steward, Head of European Equity Trading, Capital Group Brian Mitchell, Global Head of Dealing & Implementation, M & G Investments Cian Fitzgerald, Head of FX & Equity Dealing, EMEA, Aberdeen Antonia Oddin, Head of Trading, Banque Eric Sturdza Moderator: Eric Stockland, Managing Director, Co-Head of Global Electronic Trading, BMO Capital Markets
10.50 FUTURE TECH STACK PANEL: Rewiring the trading stack: How is the buy side rethinking technology to balance cost, flexibility, and resilience? With cost pressures mounting and technology options expanding, buy-side firms are reassessing the design of their trading stacks- weighing whether to consolidate platforms, adopt SaaS-based solutions, or integrate modular, API-driven components. While cloud and third-party providers can bring efficiency and agility, they also change support models, increase vendor dependency, and introduce new resilience and data management challenges. This panel will explore how firms are approaching these trade-offs, adapting support processes for SaaS and third-party relationships, and maintaining continuous trading operations without losing control or execution capability. What defines a modern, agile tech stackand how do you get there in a cost-constrained environment? Agathe Dulac, Global Co-Head, Capital Markets, Barclays Private Bank Sami Kinnala, Head of Trading, Elo Ian Salmon, Head of Product Marketing, Adaptive Melissa Ellis, Head of Workflow Technology, EMEA, Virtu Financial Moderator: Mike Poole, Head of Trading, Jupiter Asset Management
11.30 KEYNOTE INTERVIEW: The next phase of ETF trading: Structure, data and decision-making Jay Hockey, Equity Trader, Schroders Ben Sturgeon, European Equities Product Management, Tradeweb Peter Whitaker, Market Structure Specialist, Jane Street Moderator: Julia Streets, MBE, Founder & Chair, Streets Consulting
11.50 Brunch Break
Structuring Data for AI Integration
12.15 AI-READY DATA PANEL: Building the data backbone: How can buy-side firms and their partners standardise and integrate datasets to power AI-driven trading? AI’ s potential in trading depends on one thing above all: clean, consistent, and connected data. Yet for many desks, fragmented sources, legacy systems, and inconsistent tagging remain a major barrier to adoption. In this panel, buy-side leaders join a cloud provider to explore how firms are building the foundations for AI-ready trading and investment workflows. From setting common standards and integrating a broad range of data sources- across broker, market, internal and alternative datasets- to embedding governance and quality controls, panellists will share practical strategies for breaking down silos and improving data quality across the ecosystem. How can a unified data layer deliver better pre-trade insight, execution quality measurement, and workflow automation? And what role can partners play in accelerating this transformation? Mark Stacey, Head of Data Analytics, BI & Applications, Balyasny Asset Management Mark Fleming- Williams, Head of Data Sourcing, Capital Fund Management Costantino Ragno, Head of Artificial Intelligence, Anima SGR Alex Mirarchi, Head of Business Development, Exchanges, Market Infrastructure and Trading, AWS Peter Simpson, Product Leader, KX Moderator: Rebecca Healey, Redlap Consulting- Founder of MindfulMarkets. AI
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