The Quant-essential Qualities: Insider Insights for Thriving in Algorithmic Trading

Abstract: The world of quantitative trading is notoriously siloed, secretive, and intensely competitive. In this talk, Hanna and Dan will offer an insider's perspective on quant trading, sharing insights from our firm, and outline the key qualities you can cultivate to excel in the industry.

Daniel Goldbach, Quantitative Developer

Dan has worked at Quadrature for 9 years in various roles across research and technology, including Head of ML Infrastructure. Dan now focuses on low-latency research and trading systems.

Hanna Yakubovich, Quantitative Developer.

Hanna has been at Quadrature for 4 years and worked on various projects including low-latency infrastructure optimization and portfolio construction. Hanna is currently focusing on alpha forecasting research.

CSAIL Alliances & FinTechAI@CSAIL Board Member Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Borealis AI Group will be at CSAIL on 9/22 in Kiva to deliver a technical talk from Dr. Greg Mori as well as connect with interested students for job opportunities. 

Talk Title: Foundation Model Challenges and Opportunities in Financial Services

Monday 9/22 in Kiva 32-G449 12-1pm EST.  Food will be served so please register for accurate food order!

Registration link for the event: https://lu.ma/2fygnljp

Speaker: Dr. Greg Mori, VP, RBC AI Fellow at RBC Borealis and Adjunct Professor in the School of Computing Science at Simon Fraser University.

Talk Abstract:  Financial services are at the core of our economy. Opportunities for machine learning abound in this space, from capital markets to insurance services to wealth management to lending to tools that assist clients in managing their money.  Modern machine learning methods have transformed industries, yet particular challenges exist in realizing the full potential of machine learning in financial services.  These include explainability, data imbalance, partial observations, distribution shift, and self-supervised learning in low-signal settings.  I will describe the ATOM foundation model, which specializes in learning from asynchronous event sequences, to maximally utilize the richness of transactional data in financial services.

Speaker Bio: Greg Mori is VP, RBC AI Fellow at RBC Borealis, where he leads AI Research and Innovation.  He is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Computing Science at Simon Fraser University.  He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from UC Berkeley in 2004 and an Hon. B.Sc. in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Toronto in 1999.  He was a Visiting Scientist at Google in Mountain View, California in 2014-2015. He served as Director of the School of Computing Science at Simon Fraser University from 2015-2018.  Dr. Mori conducts research in computer vision and machine learning.  He received the ICCV Helmholtz Prize in 2017.  He was a Program Chair for CVPR 2020 and a General Chair for CVPR 2023.  At RBC Borealis his team builds AI-based products for financial services.  These include the award-winning NOMI Forecast and numerous other industry-leading machine learning solutions.

*Thank you for your interest in joining us for our upcoming VC Breakfast -- this event is limited to members of CSAIL, our CSAIL Alliances members, and selected guests from the MIT community as space permits. As noted on the registration form, filling the form does not guarantee entry into the event. You will be contacted by a member of CSAIL Alliances to confirm your registration as space permits*

Future Labs Capital (FLC), a Louisville, Kentucky–based venture capital firm with two funds under management mainly focused in early-stage quantum computing and artificial intelligence (AI) technology companies which are rapidly setting the pace for the future of many of the world’s leading business markets, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, information technology, biotechnology, and digital infrastructure. FLC formed a strategic partnership with MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) in 2021 providing the firm with unique access to the most cutting-edge MIT CSAIL technologies and technologists and ability to select the most promising ventures for outside venture investment and early-stage company development. Through its relationship with MIT CSAIL, Future Labs Capital reviews approximately 2,500 opportunities per year for possible investment.

Future Labs Capital is a high-performing venture capital firm with a track record of rapid deployment, strategic exits, and strong investor returns. FLC launched its first fund in 2022, investing in quantum computing and AI companies such as Atlantic Quantum, DeepKinetix, Array Insight, AssayQuant, Untitled, Trilio, and XRHealth, driving 10X returns for investors while successfully helping guide company development and growth.. Future Labs Capital has achieved notable success in the venture and growth equity space, reporting $50M total company investments and $200M in assets under management and supervision to date.

Regarding the MIT CSAIL and FLC partnership, Hugh M. Shwab IV (Mack), Co-Founder and General Partner at Future Labs Capital states, “We continue to build on the foundation we’ve laid with MIT CSAIL to support the next generation of deep tech companies while allocating capital and operating expertise to these early-stage ventures working on practical applications in science, engineering, and computing. We’ve seen firsthand the success we can have in providing early capital and support for these breakthrough technologies and giving these teams the capital and guidance to move from lab to market.”

For more information on Future Labs Capital, visit https://futurelabscapital.com/

Please join the Annual AI & Quantum Summit, hosted by CSAIL Alliances and the MIT Center for Quantum Engineering (MIT CQE).  This event is in-person at MIT with a virtual option. 

On October 23rd, 2025, CSAIL and MIT experts will gather to explore how the field of quantum computing is changing, how AI innovation is molding quantum’s trajectory, and what business leaders should keep in mind as theory becomes reality.

We will be covering multiple topics related to quantum and AI with three engaging MIT speakers (CSAIL Director Daniela Rus, MIT CQE Director Will Oliver, and CSAIL Professor Yael Kalai) and two panels with companies in the industry. Topics include:

• Verifying Quantum Computation
• Lab to Reality: Implications for Business and Scientific Research
• Recent Innovations and Research
• And more! 

Register Today!

About CSAIL Alliances:

CSAIL Alliances is your gateway to MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab’s world-renowned researchers, students and startups inventing the future of computing.  CSAIL represents all 5 schools and 11 different departments across MIT.  Our researchers include 7 MacArthur fellow and 9 Turing award winners.

As our Director Professor Daniela Rus notes, CSAIL researchers imagine and build the future by developing fundamental new technologies and conducting basic research that furthers the field of computing and its applications.

Through CSAIL Alliances, we enable a closer connection to the work, startups, researchers and students of CSAIL. Alliances provides organizations with several pathways for a proactive and comprehensive approach to developing strong connections with all CSAIL has to offer. Whether its research, cutting-edge technologies, talent recruitment and development, or startup connections, leading organizations come to CSAIL to learn about our research, to recruit talented graduate students, and to explore collaborations across our ecosystem.

About MIT CQE:

Quantum information science and technology (QIST) uses the basic principles of quantum mechanics to sense, communicate, and process information — with performance that promises to dramatically exceed conventional technologies.

Today, the field is transitioning from laboratory curiosity to technical reality. A new discipline of quantum engineering is emerging, bridging the traditional fields of computer science, mathematics, physics, and engineering.

As QIST enters its next remarkable development phase, the MIT Research Laboratory for Electronics and MIT Lincoln Laboratory are coordinating resources and talent to create the MIT Center for Quantum Engineering (CQE), the future locus of activity for breakthrough education and research in this exciting domain.