December 17, 2025 — Artificial intelligence (AI) tools that help investors unlock alpha from non-traditional sources of data are fueling a boom in buy-side adoption and spending on “alternative” datasets.
  
Three-quarters of buy-side firms use non-traditional data sources in their research and investment processes, and nearly two-thirds expect to increase spending on alternative (alt) data in the next year. This rapid uptake is fueled in large part by AI, with AI-powered applications and platforms enabling investors to efficiently analyze and extract insights from complex datasets.

“Unstructured data used to require programming and data science skills to identify signals and themes. Today, a user with a GenAI chat interface can accomplish that in a matter of seconds,” says David Easthope, Crisil Coalition Greenwich Senior Analyst in Market Structure & Technology and author of Alternative data 2025: Fueling the AI-driven investment revolution.

Growing Demand for Non-Traditional Data

Approximately 60% of buy-side firms participating in a new study by Crisil Coalition Greenwich have increased their use of alt data over the past two years. Recently, these firms have shown growing interest in web-scraped, supply chain and crowd-sourced data.

“Since alpha often quickly decays as strategies become crowded, buy-side firms are continually on the hunt for new alt datasets,” says David Easthope. “In fact, of the two-thirds expecting to increase their spending in the next 12 months, about a quarter of firms plan to increase their spending on alt data by more than 10%.”

Alternative data 2025: Fueling the AI-driven investment revolution presents the results of a recent study of U.S. and European buy-side firms about trends, challenges, and opportunities in alt data. The report analyzes adoption rates and sources of alt data, challenges, spending trends, and perceptions about impact and value.