Built for banking – Data Nest became a solution for everyone

“One of the most important lessons from my time at HSBC was the value of diversity in data sources – not just data volume,” says Cosgrove.

“For analysis to be valuable, data must come from multiple sources and different contexts. No organization has access to all relevant data. In some of the platforms I helped build, it was not uncommon to have more than 50 internal and external data sources. That insight – that context is everything – shaped both the idea and functionality of the Harbr platform.”

Combined with the catalog functionality in Tietoevry Data Nest, Harbr Data plays a central role in helping users discover, structure, and create value from data and data-driven products.

Making data accessible – in a secure and efficient way

Cosgrove began his career as a data analyst at the UK Ministry of Defence, a role that earned him the honor of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).

Anthony Cosgrove: “We saw the potential in private data marketplaces – solutions that could be used both internally and externally.” Photo: Harbr

He then spent eight years at HSBC, where he led global initiatives in information security, fraud detection, and financial crime prevention. There, he built analytics teams and developed large-scale data platforms that strengthened the bank’s ability to identify financial crime.

- “The real challenge came when we tried to scale usage and expand applications,” he explains.

- “The organization was highly complex – with numerous legal entities, geographic jurisdictions, customer segments, and users with very different technical skills. Managing the interface between the data platform and its users became a cumbersome task.

– Many believed the solution was in the cloud, but this wasn’t about where the data was stored. We saw the potential in private data marketplaces – solutions that could be used both internally and externally, treating data as products while ensuring regulatory compliance.

They also enabled the integration of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, without requiring users to switch platforms. This gave rise to the idea for Harbr Data, and the company was founded in 2017.

Built-in AI makes it easy to get started

- Tietoevry Data Nest lowers the barrier to start structuring and sharing data, not only internally within an organization but also externally," continues Tommi Larsen, Head of Concept Development, Data and Insights at Tietoevry Industry.

Tommi Larsen, Head of Concept Development, Data and Insights at Tietoevry Industry, and CEO of Tietoevry Industry, Johan E. Nygaard. Photo: Tietoevry

- We’ve taken care of the digital infrastructure, allowing users to focus on realizing the value in their own and others’ data – or on purchasing ready-made data products.

The same thinking underlies the built-in AI functionality, which is already part of Tietoevry Data Nest.

– When both the private and public sectors struggle to adopt AI in a meaningful way, I believe it’s because few still have control over their own organizational data, and also because the technology is still young. This is about to change, with pre-built AI apps, agents, and built-in AI functionality.

Early AI functionality in Tietoevry Data Nest, including features integrated into the marketplace provided by Harbr, will help users automatically discover relationships between datasets on the platform, translate queries into SQL, and reduce hallucinations in the results.

- “New AI functionality will be implemented continuously, and some of the features that will add significant value include AI-assisted searches for datasets, based on simple keywords or longer problem descriptions.

- “Furthermore, AI will, for example, assist in productizing datasets, flag sensitive data and potential compliance issues, and eventually develop its own data-driven apps without requiring any technical expertise from users – just to name a few possibilities,” explains Tommi Larsen."

Bridging the gap with leading technology

– We will work with the best technology and the best solutions,” says CEO of Tietoevry Industry, Johan E. Nygaard.

– That makes it especially exciting that Tietoevry Data Nest is built with components from two leading European companies, with Harbr being one of them. In a rapidly evolving market, they are ahead of the curve, developing the platform at an impressive pace. This is essential in a market where everyone wants to get started with data and AI, but far fewer have the knowledge, infrastructure, and solutions in place.

Tietoevry Data Nest is not tailored to a single industry or sector, but for everyone. Data does not belong in silos. Photo: Tietoevry

– Tietoevry Data Nest becomes the bridge between ambitions and the ability to put them into action. Artificial intelligence is a concrete expression of this ambition," continues Nygaard.

"Users gain access to large amounts of quality-assured data, a fundamental requirement for succeeding with AI. At the same time, intelligence is built directly into the platform – and users can link AI agents and prompts to their own data products."

- “We have developed a solution that is not tailored to a single industry or sector – data does not belong in silos,” says Nygaard.

- “Interest in Data Nest has been high ever since we started talking about it last autumn – and it’s especially exciting that many banks are now indicating that they want to explore what we offer. This is particularly significant given Anthony’s and Harbr Data’s background, and the fact that the marketplace has been programmed from the start with this sector’s strict security and compliance requirements in mind,” he concludes.

Learn more at Data Catalog and Data Marketplace.