As lawmakers in Brasilia debated a controversial pension overhaul for months, a robot more than 5,000 miles away in London kept a close eye on all 513 of them. The algorithm, designed by technology startup Arkera Inc., tracked their comments in Brazilian newspapers and government web pages each day to predict the likelihood the bill would pass. Weeks before the legislation cleared its biggest obstacle in July, the machine's data crunching allowed Arkera analysts to predict the result almost to the letter, giving hedge fund clients in New York and London the insight to buy the Brazilian real near eight-month lows in May. It's since rallied more than 8%. This is the kind of edge that a new generation of researchers are betting will upend the research marketplace.

THE THAMES seems to draw people who work on intelligence-gathering. The spooks of MI6 are housed in a funky-looking building overlooking the river. Two miles downstream, in a shared office space near Blackfriars Bridge, lives Arkera, a firm that uses machine-learning technology to sort intelligence from newspapers, websites and other public sources for emerging-market investors. London has the right time zone, between the Americas and Asia. It is a nice place to live.

THE THAMES seems to draw people who work on intelligence-gathering. The spooks of MI6 are housed in a funky-looking building overlooking the river. Two miles downstream, in a shared office space near Blackfriars Bridge, lives Arkera, a firm that uses machine-learning technology to sort intelligence from newspapers, websites and other public sources for emerging-market investors. London has the right time zone, between the Americas and Asia. It is a nice place to live.

Arkera, a leading AI-powered, human enhanced, intelligence platform for institutional and corporate clients, is attending the IMF Annual Meeting this week, following the launch of second-generation product, Atlas Live. The IMF Annual Meeting is one of the most stimulating events for emerging markets, where Arkera will be meeting with policy makers, investors and economists connected with emerging markets. The geopolitical, economic, regulatory and competitive pressures faced by financial and political institutions means they simply don't have the technology or resources to mine the sheer volume of data in non-linear geopolitical and economic markets. Atlas Live delivers a live stream of "risk-critical emerging" local intelligence via web and API, that will benefit key decision and policymakers in governments, central banks, and multilateral organizations as well as Arkera's existing clients including investment managers, strategists SWFs, investment funds and traders at hedge funds, banks and asset managers. Vinit Sahni, Co-CEO of Arkera explains: "Analytics and big data are prominent themes at the conference, with their potential especially evident in emerging markets. Arkera's AI plays a vital role, as it has the ability to normalise heterogenous, unstructured data and bring transparency to opaque markets. Our aim is to inform our clients of relevant intelligence in advance of it reaching mainstream media sources, helping them to improve the accuracy and speed of their risk management and decision-making processes. "The challenge of finding reliable sources of information is ever increasing, and technology can play a prominent role in minimising these risks and making emerging markets a much less risky, and more attractive place to invest.