For 15 years, BlackRock's Kirsty Craig has worked as a kind of “translator” within the world's largest asset management firm, sitting between the portfolio managers making big bets and the engineers building systems that inform decisions to align both parties when it comes to improving returns.
This skill set is part of what earned Craig, head of research, data and AI strategy for Portfolio Management Technology, the title of Tech Fellow, one of the company's highest technical achievements, a title held by only 20 out of thousands of engineers. Craig is one of five new fellows announced by the firm on December 16th to strengthen the asset manager's investment team. This year, she's the only woman and only fellow working outside Aladdin, BlackRock's high-return pillar of investment technology.
Craig said he was particularly proud of his role at Asimov, the agent-based AI platform for the $13.5 trillion asset management company BlackRock's fundamental equities business. The “virtual investment analyst” was announced by Chief Operating Officer Rob Goldstein at the company's investor day in June.
It leverages AI to automate workflows and research, and many companies are racing to implement this technology to speed up investment processes that once took a month.
Now, as a Fellow, Craig is even more involved in BlackRock's efforts to stay ahead of the curve as it continues to focus on technology.
“Tip of the Spear”
At first, Craig wasn't sure if he wanted to become a technology fellow. That's largely because her job is different from most of the other fellows who work directly within Aladdin, BlackRock's data analytics and risk platform. Her team of approximately 60 software engineers, data engineers, and data scientists “horizontalizes” a variety of investment capabilities to help drive investment research.
She found out about the honor when a meeting was added to her calendar at the beginning of the month.
When Craig heard the news, she told Business Insider that the first thing she did was tell her manager who nominated her, the sponsors in the application process, her team and her family, “but they had no idea what that meant,” she told Business Insider.
Nish Azitsaria, co-head of Aladdin product engineering at BlackRock and co-executive sponsor of the fellows program, said existing tech fellows knew about Craig's AI-powered innovations in investing as well as her collaborative efforts. He described Craig as an “AI native” and added that her team is at the “tip of the spear” when it comes to applying AI to investing.
Craig has worked in a variety of offices, including Edinburgh, San Francisco, and now Philadelphia, which she believes has given her a strong foundation for horizontal leadership across teams.
“I have a responsibility to try to find dial movers across data, AI and technology that really help our investment pillars drive investment research,” she said of her job.
Craig said learning how to communicate with both investors and Aladdin's engineers and building deep trust with both groups was key to his success.
“When you bring both of these different personalities and personas together, very often they talk above or below each other. They have a hard time connecting. So for me, it's really important to be able to translate both and come up with a strategy in between,” she said.
visible leadership
For Craig, it's a “huge honor” to have a woman in a visible leadership position. Of the 24 technical fellows, five are women, including Craig. Women make up 43.8% of BlackRock's global workforce and 33.1% of its senior executives, according to data posted on the company's website as of January 1, 2025.
Craig said her involvement in BlackRock's Women and LGBTQ+ Resource Group influenced her other work at the company, particularly how she taught people how to work with and explain complex topics across departments.
“If there are things that have probably helped me, one is networking, two is softer presentation skills, and three is how to communicate with impact,” Craig said. With this title, she hopes to help more young female engineers “lean in.”
It is also important to Azitsaria to have diverse expertise in the program and ensure fellows represent all parts of BlackRock.
Expectations beyond the title
As for driving the technology strategy itself, Craig said he is excited to continue exploring ways to leverage AI in active investing. Her team is currently looking at ways to expand the scope of agent research into areas such as fixed income and macro investing.
As Craig continues to listen to the news, he is also preparing for a big change in his life. Craig's partner is due to give birth in early January, and although her due date is only a few weeks away, Craig said the couple had been celebrating in a quiet way so far.
“We went out to eat. We didn't buy anything except a cot and a bottle,” she said. “I have no doubt that there will be more celebrations after January 6th.”
