Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming foundational to financial services infrastructure. For global data and analytics providers, the competitive edge increasingly depends on how effectively AI capabilities are embedded into enterprise platforms.
FactSet (NYSE: FDS | NASDAQ: FDS) has announced two key executive appointments aimed at accelerating its enterprise AI and platform modernization strategy: Kate Stepp as Chief AI Officer and Bob Stolte as Chief Technology Officer, both effective March 2, 2026.
The leadership changes signal a deliberate structural alignment — separating AI innovation from core technology infrastructure while ensuring both move forward in parallel.
Elevating AI to the Executive Level
As Chief AI Officer, Kate Stepp will lead FactSet’s AI services and client-facing AI strategy, reporting directly to CEO Sanoke Viswanathan. Her mandate includes accelerating the development and deployment of AI capabilities across FactSet’s product portfolio and ensuring those tools generate measurable client value across buy-side, sell-side, wealth, private equity, and corporate segments.
Stepp previously served as FactSet’s Chief Technology Officer, where she focused on client-centric product engineering and enterprise solution expansion amid growing technical complexity and heightened AI adoption across capital markets.
Her transition into a dedicated AI leadership role reflects a broader industry trend: AI is no longer an embedded feature within technology teams — it is becoming its own enterprise function.
According to CEO Sanoke Viswanathan, AI now sits at the center of FactSet’s innovation and operational strategy. The creation of a Chief AI Officer position formalizes that priority at the executive level.
Strengthening the Technology Foundation
Taking over the CTO role, Bob Stolte will oversee FactSet’s global technology organization. His responsibilities include platform modernization, engineering execution, cybersecurity, IT resilience, system reliability, and long-term enterprise architecture strategy.
Stolte brings experience leading complex transformation initiatives across large financial institutions — expertise that becomes increasingly critical as firms modernize legacy infrastructure while integrating AI-native capabilities.
The separation of AI strategy (Stepp) and core platform engineering (Stolte) creates clearer accountability: one leader driving intelligent applications and data-layer innovation, the other ensuring the underlying systems remain scalable, secure, and resilient.
A Coordinated AI and Platform Push
FactSet serves more than 9,000 institutional clients and over 239,000 individual users globally. Its platform integrates proprietary financial datasets, third-party data sources, and client information into unified workflows across asset classes.
As financial institutions demand more predictive analytics, automation, and real-time intelligence, platform providers must evolve from data aggregators into AI-powered decision infrastructure.
These appointments reinforce FactSet’s intention to compete at that level — where enterprise-grade reliability meets AI-driven insight generation.
From a market perspective, this move positions FactSet to deepen differentiation in a crowded financial data ecosystem, where innovation cycles are shortening and AI integration is becoming table stakes rather than optional enhancement.
Enterprise Signal
For enterprise technology leaders, the message is clear: AI strategy and technology modernization are now co-equal priorities. Embedding AI into client workflows requires not just algorithms, but scalable architecture, governance controls, cybersecurity rigor, and operational continuity.
By formalizing both executive roles simultaneously, FactSet is signaling that AI advancement and platform resilience must evolve together — not sequentially.
As financial intelligence becomes increasingly AI-mediated, firms that align leadership, infrastructure, and data strategy will be best positioned to capture long-term value.