9fin appoints ex-JPMorgan executive to drive AI partnerships

By Milan Rojan

9fin has appointed former JPMorgan executive Huw Richards as Head of Customer Partnerships, creating a new leadership role aimed at helping financial institutions integrate artificial intelligence into debt market workflows.

Huw Richards, Head of Customer Partnerships at 9fin, said: “In over 30 years in debt capital markets, I’ve not seen a moment as pivotal as this one for unlocking data-led insight. Practitioners are increasingly realising what we’ve long advocated: AI’s potential is only fully unlocked when it’s grounded in trusted, proprietary data. 9fin has both.”

Based in New York, Richards will work with banks, asset managers and other institutional clients to support the adoption of AI-powered capabilities built on 9fin’s proprietary debt market data and analytics platform. The appointment has reflected growing demand from financial institutions seeking to embed AI into research, origination and credit market operations while maintaining access to trusted data sources.

Richards has brought more than three decades of experience in debt capital markets, including 23 years at JPMorgan. During his tenure, he led several global debt financing businesses before heading the bank’s Digital Investment Bank, where he oversaw initiatives focused on integrating technology and data into investment banking operations.

The appointment came as financial institutions increasingly explore AI to improve productivity, automate workflows and enhance decision-making. 9fin said it is expanding its customer engagement strategy by supporting clients through its platform, APIs, Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations and AI agents that can be deployed within firms’ existing technology environments.

More than 350 banks, asset managers, law firms and advisory firms currently use the company’s platform for debt market reporting, analytics and proprietary data. Through the new role, Richards is expected to help customers identify AI use cases, integrate 9fin’s capabilities into their existing technology ecosystems and support broader digital transformation initiatives across capital markets.