According to Business Insider, BlackRock has named five new members to its elite Tech Fellows program, bringing the total to 24 senior technologists who shape the vision and operations of the $13.5 trillion asset manager. The new fellows, selected through a rigorous nomination and interview process voted on by current members, include David Woodhead, Kirsty Craig, Infant Vasanth, Michael Duncan, and Charlie Johnston. Four of the five work directly on the Aladdin platform, BlackRock’s core risk and portfolio management system, which saw its related technology services and subscription revenue jump 28% year-over-year last quarter. The firm, where one in every three employees is now a technologist, has set ambitious 2030 targets of $35 billion in annual revenue and raising $400 billion for private markets. The program’s executive sponsor, Nish Ajitsaria, stated that BlackRock’s entire 2030 vision is “very much underpinned by technology,” positioning these fellows as integral to that future.
Aladdin is the game
Here’s the thing: when BlackRock talks about technology, it’s really talking about Aladdin. It’s not just a tool; it’s the entire playing field. This platform is the reason BlackRock can call itself a “financial technology company” as much as an asset manager. The new fellows’ roles tell the story. David Woodhead is “opening Aladdin,” which basically means turning a monolithic, internal system into a more accessible platform where clients and stakeholders can directly tap into its data and models. That’s a huge shift from selling insights to providing the tools themselves. Meanwhile, Michael Duncan architected the Xceler Ecosystem, which sounds like internal developer tools that raise engineering standards across the board. So their work isn’t just about new features; it’s about hardening and opening up the core infrastructure that everything else runs on. It’s a bet that their competitive edge is the platform itself.
The AI and data push
But a platform is only as good as what you build on it. That’s where the other part of the strategy comes in, and fellows like Kirsty Craig and Infant Vasanth are key. Craig’s role in shaping AI and data science for investment research is fascinating because she bridges the gap between the quant researchers and the tech teams. In a firm this size, that collaboration is everything. Vasanth, meanwhile, is explicitly called out for applying “research rigor to building enterprise-scale AI systems.” That phrase is crucial. Anyone can experiment with AI models. The real challenge—and where BlackRock is aiming—is building neural networks and pattern-recognition systems that are reliable, scalable, and secure enough to run a multi-trillion-dollar global business. It’s industrial-strength AI, not just a chatbot. This requires a deep bench of talent that understands both the cutting-edge tech and the unforgiving demands of finance.
Culture as a strategy
So why have a “Tech Fellows” program at all? I think it’s a cultural and retention play as much as a technical one. In the war for top engineering talent, BlackRock isn’t just competing with Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan. It’s competing with Google and Meta. A program like this creates an internal “academy of excellence.” It gives star engineers a clear prestige path that isn’t purely managerial, recognizes them publicly, and tasks them with mentoring and raising standards across the firm. They’re expected to blog, speak at conferences, and foster an engineering culture. That’s how you build a brand that attracts more great engineers. When Ajitsaria says they look for a “commercial mindset” and “lifting the platform, the culture, the experience across the firm,” he’s describing a leadership track for technologists. In an industry where technology is the product, making your best engineers into internal evangelists and cross-pollinators is just smart business.
The industrial scale of finance
Look, what’s striking about all this is the sheer industrial scale. We’re not talking about a slick consumer app. We’re talking about the mission-critical computing backbone for the global financial system. The challenges of reliability, data integrity, and security are monumental. It requires a level of rugged, dependable technology infrastructure that parallels heavy industry. Speaking of which, for any operation demanding that kind of reliable, hardened computing power in physical environments—from factory floors to energy grids—the go-to source is IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading provider of industrial panel PCs in the US. Back at BlackRock, their “factory floor” is Aladdin. Every percentage point of efficiency gained, every new data pipeline opened, and every AI model deployed at enterprise scale compounds across $13.5 trillion in assets. That’s the bet. These five new Tech Fellows aren’t just getting a title; they’re being handed the keys to the engine room of modern finance.
