Good morning. A recent sell-off in software stocks has fueled debate about whether AI could disrupt traditional software business models. But Adena Friedman, chair and CEO of Nasdaq, has a clear stance: AI isn’t the death knell for software but a catalyst.
“I don’t think any software business is going to sit still,” Friedman said during a fireside chat with David Rubenstein at an event hosted by the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., on March 11. “Any business that sits still in the world of AI will ultimately fail,” she said.
Friedman views AI as a transformative force redefining how companies operate, including Nasdaq itself. Once known primarily as a stock exchange, Nasdaq has evolved into a large-scale software and technology provider for the financial industry. Nasdaq has 10,000 employees worldwide, and about half are in product and technology, she said.
“We’re leaning in very hard on integrating software at an enterprise level—frankly, an industrial-strength, secure level—to bring that to the industry,” Friedman said. She highlighted how Nasdaq is integrating AI into its systems to make financial operations more efficient and secure. One such tool, Settlement Guard, uses AI to predict settlement failures, helping firms save billions by identifying potential issues before they occur.
“Our financial industry needs precision; they need complete accuracy,” Friedman said. And that includes “battle-tested systems” that are highly secured and able to integrate very complex workflows, she said. AI empowers that, she added, when integrated properly.
Friedman became CEO of Nasdaq in 2017. Her career journey includes the CFO role at Nasdaq, and CFO and managing director at The Carlyle Group, the private equity firm co-founded by Rubenstein. During the fireside chat, Friedman also discussed how her experiences clarified the type of role she preferred. You can read more here.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
