Ravi Narang, Rithvik Bobbili

Vanguard built a conversational AI system called Virtual Analyst to help financial analysts query complex datasets without writing SQL or waiting days for data team support. The project revealed that effective conversational AI depends less on model selection and more on data infrastructure and cross-functional collaboration. Vanguard developed an AI-ready data blueprint by aligning data engineers, business analysts, compliance teams, and business users around shared semantic definitions, ownership models, and quality standards. The approach yielded measurable business outcomes and created processes that extended benefits beyond the initial use case.