Podcast: Inside Harbor Capital's AI and Tech Strategy

“Data is no longer a cost center, it’s a competitive advantage..” Pradeep Tekkey

Pradeep Tekkey, Chief Data Officer at Harbor Capital Advisors, joins the Allocation Agenda podcast to explore how investment managers can reimagine operational due diligence by putting data at the centre of business strategy.

In an industry where complexity is increasing and margins are under pressure, Harbor Capital has made a deliberate shift. The firm created Harbor Data Intelligence, a dedicated center of excellence focused on data. As Pradeep Tekkey explains, this move was driven by a clear realisation: in asset management, data has become a differentiator.

Operational due diligence (ODD) teams know that inefficiencies often stem from data inconsistency and variety. While traditional trade and portfolio data might be structured and reliable, distribution data remains fragmented. There is no universal standard for data exchange across firms, leading to manual workarounds, duplicated effort, and reduced transparency, especially in omnibus relationships.

Tekkey outlines how Harbor approached this head-on. “We tore it down and started from the beginning,” he says, describing how his team re-engineered internal processes to increase reliability, reduce duplication, and make reporting workflows more resilient. This was not about layering technology on top of outdated systems - it was a strategic overhaul aimed at long-term sustainability.

At the heart of this transformation is a mindset shift. Harbor’s approach to ODD no longer hinges on volume, but on variety. “Storage is cheap,” Tekkey notes.

“What matters now is managing the variety of data types and sources effectively.”

The firm built data lineage tools to improve auditability, identify inefficiencies, and strengthen trust. As Tekkey puts it,

“You can query the system and ask where a dataset originated, who touched it, and how it changed.”

The benefits extend beyond internal teams. Harbor now collaborates more efficiently with external parties, setting shared standards for data formatting and delivery. The aim is to move toward a consistent “data speak” across counterparties. This makes onboarding faster, due diligence more transparent, and ODD reviews more robust, reducing risk while building trust with allocators.

Platforms like Dasseti COLLECT play a pivotal role here, enabling firms to move away from spreadsheets and email attachments to a more controlled, structured, and repeatable due diligence process. For Harbor, this is not just about streamlining the workflow, it’s about making better decisions. Every report and dataset must serve a purpose. If it isn’t used, it’s eliminated.

In today’s investment landscape, active managers are under pressure to deliver performance while justifying fees. Data and operational agility can provide a measurable edge. As Tekkey notes,

“Efficiency is the name of the game. Focus on what adds value, and drop what doesn’t.”

For any firm facing similar challenges, Tekkey offers clear advice: don’t build a five-year technology roadmap. Build a nimble one. “Chances are,” he says, “what you're building will be redone. Someone else will come up with a better product.” By embracing short-term, adaptable strategies, firms can pivot fast, and scale smarter.

And for those still viewing data and technology as back-office support? Tekkey is blunt:

“Ignore data and technology at your own peril.”

It’s not a cost center anymore. In the world of institutional investing, data has earned a seat at the table.