The maverick choice proved to be a winning one for an Emilian fintech business that decided to keep its headquarters in Modena and that, from there, helps asset managers improve the management of their investment strategies thanks to predictive AI and scalable technologies. For FARE INSIEME, Giampaolo Colletti interviewed Daniele Grassi, CEO and co-founder of Axyon AI together with Giacomo Barigazzi and Jacopo Credi
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Well begun is half done. Do you remember this idiom that our mothers and fathers used to repeat to us obsessively when we were kids? Well, the story of the young entrepreneur that co-founded the business we are about to relate started precisely when he was a kid. Because Daniele Grassi - an IT engineer who was born in Carpi 41 years ago - started programming when he was just 8 years old. At the time, Commodore 64 used to be provided with a programming manual. So, when you wanted to play, you read the manual. The first programme Daniele developed was a small stock exchange simulation. After all, as a kid he used to observe his father reading Milano Finanza. Afterwards, Daniele started playing seriously together with another two fellow adventurers. In the meantime, while he studied, he explored the world of artificial intelligence. All of this came in handy when Axyon AI was set up, a fintech business specialising in the use of artificial intelligence for the predictive analysis of the financial markets. He started it alongside Giacomo Barigazzi as COO and Jacopo Credi as CTO. Axyon AI transforms investment management through artificial intelligence and using state-of-the-art predictive technologies. The objective is to support investors with scalable models based on research that can provide prompt inputs and predictive insights.
Company profile. We find ourselves in Modena. Joining the Emilian strive for innovation was an unusual choice, even a maverick one, but it proved successful. It was a choice with a strong emotional element. After all, all three co-founders studied there and have a strong connection with the local territory. “This choice turned into a huge competitive advantage because the area boasts a cutting-edge engineering tradition. This synergy favoured a unique ecosystem where academic and industrial innovation go hand in hand, giving rise to talent and highly-skilled minds also when it came to artificial intelligence. In addition, the presence in Bologna of the largest European High Performance Computing centre, i.e. Cineca, represents a strategic asset for us. Thanks to this infrastructure, we have access to advanced computing power that enables us to train our AI and deep learning models efficiently,. We have access to talent and a high quality of life at a fraction of the cost of London or Milan. What is more, our sales managers are everywhere,” explains Daniele Grassi, CEO and co-founder of Axyon AI. The team currently includes almost 40 professionals from Italy, the UK, Spain, South Africa, Greece and Brazil. The growing availability of data combined with an unprecedented computing power already represented a thrilling opportunity 10 years ago. The most important moment? The first external investment by ING Ventures following the victory of the acceleration plan at ING Banks International Innovation Studio in Amsterdam in 2017, which was followed by an additional investment by UniCredit Bank. On a commercial level, the most satisfactory moment was the signing of the first contract with SMBC Global Investment and Consulting, a Japanese asset management company in 2018, after successfully passing their strict qualification programme. “We develop predictive solutions based on artificial intelligence designed specifically for the management of investments. Our technology helps institutional investors take informed decisions, thereby improving bond selection, enhancing the building of portfolios and anticipating financial market trends. Our work is based on a clear philosophy: we believe financial markets are complex and adaptive systems. That is why the objective of AI is not to achieve perfect predictions, but to learn and adapt continuously,” says Grassi. Between data and people, we could say. This is where advanced engineering, AI modelling and ongoing monitoring integrate. Cutting-edge methods are combined from a technological point of view: neural networks, tree diagrams and linear approaches integrated into adaptive ensembles. Then a proprietary framework is applied to optimise asset ranking, rather than mere absolute forecasts. Figures certainly matter, but also the need to decode them thanks to a multi-disciplinary team of data scientists, machine learning engineers, quantitative finance experts and software engineers who, by working together, turn the most recent technological innovations into effective investment management tools. Of course technology counts, but people are still what matter most.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
Read the other interviews
