Duncan Robinson, MSDS, MBA, CAIA, FDP

Sharpshooter
DISC Type : CD

Director of AI & Optimization - Principal Research Scientist at Franklin Templeton

Greater Chicago Area, United States

Overview

Duncan is the Director of AI & Optimization at Franklin Templeton, where he merges macroeconomic insight with quantitative innovation. A former options market-maker, he holds an MS from Northwestern University and an MBA from Purdue. Colleagues describe him as a brilliant, astute, driven, and balanced intellectual leader, known for transforming complex signals into actionable investment insights.

He is the patented inventor of an "Artificial Multispectral Metadata Generator, " a system designed to glean insights from sensitive data while protecting source data privacy.

Personality Overview

Precise But Practical

Thorough Evaluator

Fast But Analytical

They do not care very much about building rapport or relationships.  They are less concerned about the product and more about its potential impact. They respond better to strong and respectful interactions.

Topics They Care About

AI in Investment
His current role focuses on advancing investment management through AI. He is a frequent speaker on AI and quantitative finance at industry summits like Neudata.
Quantitative Research
His background is deeply rooted in quantitative techniques, from derivatives trading to building scalable research platforms and risk regime models.
Alternative Data
He created a patent-pending system to value alternative data sets and explores its use for signal generation in his research and conference presentations.

Media Appearances

Duncan has no verified media appearances

Work History

10-2025
Director of AI & Optimization - Principal Research Scientist at Franklin Templeton
3-2022 - 10-2025
Director of Quantitative Insights and Data Science at Allspring Global Investments
11-2021 - 6-2022
Senior Investment Data Scientist at Allspring Global Investments
6-2018 - 11-2021
Senior Investment Data Scientist, Wells Fargo Asset Management at Wells Fargo
8-2017 - 4-2018
Senior Trader & Portfolio Manager at Budo Group

Education

2012 - 2015
Master of Science (MS) from Northwestern University
2005 - 2006
Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Purdue University

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 22 Location : Greater Chicago Area, United States Job Level : Senior Designation : Director of AI & Optimization - Principal Research Scientist at Franklin Templeton
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Insights For Selling To Duncan

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • When negotiating terms, help them build an impression that they are the ones calling the shots
  • Help them weigh the risks by sharing objective proof points without becoming too analytical
  • Get to the point quickly instead of spending time doing small talk

DONT's

  • Avoid being a storyteller and don’t try to oversell
  • Don’t take too much time in sending them information if they ask for any
  • Do not hesitate from asking counter questions, just avoid challenging their authority

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Duncan is

  • Conviction around the impact matters the most to them, followed by a sense of achievement and ROI.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Duncan

  • If they decide not to use your product, they will say no clearly.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Duncan move?

  • If convinced, they can reach decisions quite fast.
  • Can Duncan take some risk or not?

  • They do not shy away from taking risks, but can be quite binary about them.

You And Duncan

Personality Compatibility


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