AI expected to push market data costs up more than 50% by 2027, study finds
AI expected to push market data costs up more than 50% by 2027, study finds #
Capital markets firms face a sharp rise in market data spending, with new research projecting costs could increase by more than 50% by 2027, driven largely by the adoption of artificial intelligence.
The findings come from the fourth annual Market Data Study by Crisil Coalition Greenwich and SIX, the Swiss financial data and market infrastructure group. The study surveyed 73 buy-side and sell-side institutions and found that AI is changing how firms source, consume, and manage market data, with cost implications that are still emerging.
Global spending on market data and reference data has already crossed $50 billion for the first time, according to separate research by Expand Research, a BCG company. Growth to date has been driven primarily by rising demand for real-time analytics and portfolio management tools. Analysts note that AI has not yet been a significant driver of that spending, but warn that is about to change.
As AI workflows become more embedded in front-office research, risk analytics, and compliance functions, the volume and speed of data consumption are expected to rise sharply. Licensing structures designed for conventional human-scale usage are increasingly mismatched to AI applications, which can require far greater throughput and create new governance obligations.
The study found that alongside traditional criteria such as coverage, speed, and price, data quality, governance, and delivery flexibility are becoming more important as institutions build out their AI capabilities. That shift is expected to alter vendor relationships across the market data industry, potentially favoring providers better suited to AI-native workflows.
SIX noted in announcing the research that market data providers “have a critical role to play in the rollout of AI” as buy-side and sell-side expectations around access and performance continue to rise.
The findings add to broader concerns about the total cost of AI deployment in financial services. Firms have moved quickly to adopt AI tools, but the downstream cost of supplying those systems with high-quality, structured market data at scale is emerging as a substantial expense across the capital markets sector.
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