In an exclusive interview with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, Dr. Dan Rosen, CEO and Co-Founder of d1g1t, shares how technology, artificial intelligence, and financial engineering are reshaping the future of wealth management. With decades of experience building fintech solutions and solving complex challenges across financial markets, Dan discusses his journey from academia and risk analytics to creating a platform designed to help wealth management firms deliver more personalized and efficient client experiences.
Interview By Kripa Anand
An Internationally recognized Quant and Fintech entrepreneur, Dan is also an Adjunct Professor of Mathematical Finance at the University of Toronto and was the first Director of the Center for Financial Institutions at the Fields Institute. He has worked with numerous financial institutions around the world, lectures extensively on risk and portfolio management, financial engineering, and Fintech innovation, and has authored numerous research publications and several patents.
You’ve co‑founded multiple Fintech companies, led global risk teams, and still teach mathematical finance at the University of Toronto. What first influenced your entrepreneurial journey, and how did you decide to build d1g1t around wealth management advisors rather than another area of finance?
Originally, I envisioned a career in academia; however, after obtaining a PhD in chemical engineering and completing a post-doctorate in the application of mathematics to technology management problems, I was approached by a startup called Algorithmics. While at Algorithmics, I developed an appreciation for real-world problems in financial services that were begging for better, technology-enabled solutions.
When Algorithmics was acquired by IBM, I left with two of my colleagues to start R2 Financial Technologies, where we built a multi-asset portfolio management platform for hedge funds and institutional asset managers. R2 was then acquired by S&P Capital IQ, at which time my two co-founders and I left to start d1g1t as we saw an opportunity for transformation in wealth management. We consistently heard from our hedge fund clients, “Your technology would transform the wealth management space. Family offices and advisory firms desperately need what you’ve built.”
Intrigued, we met with numerous wealth management firms, and a clear pattern emerged: despite managing substantial assets, these firms were operating with fragmented, outdated technology stacks, a stark contrast to their institutional counterparts. Critical functions such as reporting, trading, and billing existed in separate silos, forcing advisors to manually compile information when clients sought insights about their investments.
This technological gap represented not just a business opportunity, but a chance to revolutionize an underserved market.
d1g1t has grown into an enterprise‑grade wealthtech platform, with landmark partnerships such as your engagement with RBC Wealth Management and multiple industry awards. What has been driving that momentum from initial product‑market fit to large‑scale adoption, and how do you see the growth trajectory continuing?
Our rapid growth stems from three key factors: solving a genuine market need, leveraging deep industry financial engineering expertise, and maintaining relentless customer focus. We identified real problems facing wealth management firms and financial advisors, then applied our extensive software development experience to create solutions that quickly achieved product-market fit.
What sets us apart is our commitment to listening. We actively engage with advisors, executives and portfolio managers to understand their challenges and rapidly translate their feedback into enhancements in our platform. Our clients drive our innovation cycle, inspiring us to develop features that directly address their pain points and help them deliver exceptional client experiences. This customer-centric approach has enabled us to build a platform that truly serves the evolving needs of the wealth management industry.
We see strong growth continuing, fueled by a steady cadence of platform enhancements. Our bilingual capabilities demonstrate a genuine commitment to the Canadian market and align with Québec’s Language Bill 96. Existing clients are also expanding their use of d1g1t for trading, billing, and document management to streamline their operations. This deeper utilization reflects strong client satisfaction and a growing reliance on our platform for comprehensive portfolio management needs.
Wealth management is deeply relationship‑driven, yet AI is transforming how financial information is processed and communicated. How is d1g1t using AI to enhance advisor productivity and the client experience, and do you ultimately see AI strengthening the advisor‑client bond rather than replacing it?
Absolutely. We believe AI’s role is to strengthen the advisor-client relationships by helping advisors surface insights, automate tasks, and personalize experiences at scale. We see AI as an augmentation tool that always keeps the advisor at the center. When a client has an important financial decision, issue, or life opportunity, they want to speak with a real person.
For firms using d1g1t’s wealth management platform, they can leverage our MCP server, a connector built on the open Model Context Protocol (MCP) standard that links our platform directly to AI tools like Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Microsoft’s Copilot to bring AI-powered intelligence directly into advisor workflows. Enabling advisors to generate morning briefings, analyze portfolios, and prepare for client meetings faster using agentic AI. For example, advisors can ask Claude or ChatGPT in plain language to summarize year-to-date performance, flag mandate breaches, or assemble a client report, and the AI securely retrieves live data from the d1g1t platform and works with it directly.
Advisors will have a live, governed AI agent that works across every household, eliminating the mechanical work of preparation and reporting so they can spend more time with their clients.
Building institutional‑grade technology in a highly regulated industry demands both trust and talent. What leadership lessons do you wish you had learned earlier as a CEO, and how do you think about finding, retaining, and aligning the right people within d1g1t’s purpose‑driven hybrid work model?
The most valuable lesson I’ve learned is that your people truly are your greatest asset. Early on, I realized that our exceptional team of financial engineers, business analysts, and software engineers is what enables us to serve top wealth management firms at the highest level.
The key insight is that building a great team isn’t a one-time effort; it’s an ongoing investment that requires intentionality at every stage. Taking the time to thoughtfully recruit, hire, and retain the right people has been fundamental to our success. But it goes beyond just getting talented individuals through the door.
What’s equally important is creating the right environment for them to thrive. This means developing comprehensive people programs, fostering open communication across all levels of the organization, and maintaining transparency in how we operate. These elements build genuine team spirit and camaraderie that translates directly into better outcomes for our clients.
My advice to any entrepreneur is simple: prioritize your people from day one and never stop investing in them. Look for individuals who are not just skilled but also dedicated to the mission. When you get this right, everything else – innovation, client satisfaction, growth follows naturally.
You’ve spent your career at the intersection of risk analytics, portfolio management, and innovation—from Algorithmics and R² Financial Technologies to d1g1t today. Looking ahead, what do you think will define the next generation of wealth management technology, and what advice would you offer Canadian founders who are trying to scale SaaS platforms from early traction to enterprise partnerships?
The next generation of wealth management technology will be defined by personalization at scale. Platforms that leverage APIs, AI, and open architectures to boost operational performance. The winners won’t be the firms with the flashiest AI; they’ll be the ones that use technology to make advisors sharper, faster, and more present with clients.
My advice to others going from early traction to enterprise partnerships: there are no shortcuts; it takes grit, determination, and strategic thinking. When you’re targeting large, multinational enterprises, you’re no longer selling to a single decision-maker; you’re navigating large buying committees, each with their own priorities, timelines, and risk tolerance. Success at that stage isn’t transactional; it’s about moving deliberately, building and earning trust across every stakeholder. My tip: find your internal champions early. The people who’ll advocate for you when you’re not in the room and equip them with everything they need to sell your solution on your behalf.
One thing that’s served us well is the strength of our financial engineering team, with deep expertise across finance, technology, and operations. Leaning into that differentiator early and showcasing the team has been central to our ability to compete at the enterprise level.
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CanadianSME Small Business Magazine. Our platform is dedicated to fostering dialogue and sharing insights that inspire and empower small and medium-sized businesses across Canada.
