Aug. 23, 2023

This paid piece is sponsored by MarketBeat.

In today’s fast-paced, ever-evolving financial landscape, staying ahead of market trends and making informed investment decisions requires access to timely and accurate information.

MarketBeat, a leading provider of stock market data and investment insights, is at the forefront of harnessing artificial intelligence to empower investors with cutting-edge tools and features.

Leading these transformative initiatives is principal engineer Ryan Quam, an accomplished software developer driven by a passion for data and innovation.

Quam’s journey to becoming the driving force behind MarketBeat’s AI initiatives began with a love for math and data. Starting with a perfect 800 on the math portion of the SAT, his fascination with numbers led him to South Dakota State University, where he pursued math and computer science studies. His insatiable curiosity laid the foundation for a career marked by innovation and technological advancement.

His path eventually led him to MarketBeat in 2018, where he now takes charge of the IT architecture, devising high-level solutions for the company’s infrastructure. He plays a pivotal role in developing and implementing changes across MarketBeat platforms. Currently, he’s on a mission to integrate AI into the company’s platform.

A testament to MarketBeat’s commitment to staying ahead of the curve, founder and CEO Matt Paulson proposed an exclusive focus on integrating AI into the platform over the next six months.

“Many information businesses will be disrupted by artificial intelligence during the next decade,” Paulson said. “MarketBeat is working on deeply integrating AI into its existing business model with the goal of optimizing our marketing efforts and providing more useful information to our investor audience.”

Quam recognizes the immense potential of AI.

“I was ecstatic that we were going to dedicate such a substantial amount of research and development time to an initiative that I believed had the potential to be truly innovative and valuable for our customers,” he said.

The AI-driven initiatives at MarketBeat started with a collaboration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT to enhance email subject lines to improve communication with users. Building on this early success, Quam developed chat features that allow users to interact with and query MarketBeat’s data. This upcoming AI feature will provide insightful analysis for popular stocks based on market sentiment, price history and other relevant data.

Integrating AI into a platform like MarketBeat, like anything, comes with its challenges. One notable obstacle is ensuring that AI can effectively utilize data sources outside its model.

With MarketBeat’s data streams in constant flux — featuring real-time stock prices, market news and analyst ratings — Quam and his team engineered an intelligent AI retrieval mechanism. This mechanism seamlessly interfaces with real-time databases to source information beyond the traditional scope of AI storage. Above all, they remain committed to safeguarding user privacy.

“We make sure to leave out any private data in our AI process so our users can enjoy our tools while keeping their privacy intact,” Quam said.

He stays updated on the latest AI trends and technologies through continuous learning. He keeps a pulse on AI news, regularly experiments with new technologies and embraces the rapid pace of innovation in the AI space, operating at “MarketBeat speed,” as Quam calls it. This philosophy prioritizes agility, experimentation and rapid iteration. This approach allows the team to quickly test and implement features.

For companies contemplating their own AI integration journey, Quam offers this advice: “With the abundance of open-source tools and technologies available, companies can embark on AI initiatives cost-effectively while keeping it in-house. This approach empowers organizations to tailor AI solutions to their unique needs while keeping data and innovation at the forefront.”