Natalie McIntyre is the Global Head of Consulting at Cutter Associates, a research and consulting firm that is focused exclusively on the investment industry.

In today’s conversation, Natalie talks through how she got to Cutter from Bridgewater Associates, and how she took that knowledge base to help other organizations be the best version of themselves. We dig into what separates a good consulting firm from the rest and what a typical engagement really looks like once you get past the pitch.

Natalie shares the stories and the tipping points, those moments where a firm realizes that it can’t solve something internally and picks up the phone. From there, we get into data, why data strategy has moved from a back-office task to the center of decision-making. We get tactical on building a tech stack for today and tomorrow, the common challenges, the tradeoff between bespoke builds and single platform solutions, and the ongoing tension between incumbents and the nascent players trying to unseat them.

We also talk about how the role of talent is shifting as technology takes on more of the workflow. For anyone building or scaling operations, this is a conversation about what changes when data, technology, and talent start pulling in the same direction.