Artificial intelligence is reshaping retail investing, but brokers need to do more than just add AI tools, according to Laura Thomas, CEO of Longbridge U.S.
Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Singapore, Longbridge operates an online brokerage platform combining trading, market research and investment tools. Its platform also includes Longbridge AI, an assistant designed to help investors research markets, understand developments and identify potential opportunities. Thomas worked at Goldman Sachs for 15 years and Apex Fintech Solutions for four years before joining Longbridge, where she is based in Dallas.
In an interview with Traders Magazine, Thomas discusses how firms should measure AI’s success beyond engagement metrics, what today’s investors expect from trading platforms, and why women continue to face barriers to securing revenue and P&L responsibility in financial markets.
Please tell us about yourself and what drew you to lead Longbridge’s U.S. expansion.
When I first started in the trading and brokerage business, having an electronic trading desk was considered cutting edge, and the swag was abundant. I have always been a bit of a history nerd, so I loved hearing how trading had evolved and asking colleagues and mentors how exchanges and proprietary systems moved onto more modern platforms, what problems that solved, and what it still left unresolved.
Over time, my career shifted from an institutional focus toward retail because I became increasingly interested in the opportunity to bring Wall Street technology into the pockets of individual investors. Longbridge had already achieved impressive growth globally and proven itself with some of the world’s most active retail traders in Singapore and Hong Kong, so I was drawn to the potential of building on that foundation in a market where investor expectations are changing quickly.
Please tell us about Longbridge and how it differentiates in a competitive marketplace.
Longbridge is a personalized AI-powered investing platform that helps investors navigate the markets with greater clarity and confidence. We bring discovery, research, execution and portfolio review into one connected experience, helping investors move through the full process without piecing together separate tools or losing context along the way.
What makes Longbridge different is that its AI builds an understanding of each investor over time by learning from their goals, behavior and decisions. This allows the platform to make insights and signals more relevant with continued use, while the investor sets the direction and remains in control.
In a crowded market, every digital brokerage needs a genuine secret sauce that addresses a clear gap for the investors it wants to serve. Zero commission, low latency and access to decentralized finance have all become table stakes, so meaningful differentiation increasingly comes from understanding a specific customer need better than anyone else and solving it in a way that competitors have overlooked. Our secret sauce is empowering investors at every level to harness AI intelligently and make informed decisions with confidence and clarity. We built our product from the ground up around the mission of allowing investors to evolve over time as their goals and priorities change at different stages of their lives.
How can AI be a competitive advantage?
AI is quickly becoming table stakes, but companies should be careful about using the term unless the product truly delivers on the promise. Few things are more frustrating for retail investors than being offered an intelligent experience that turns out to be a generic feature added to an existing app.
The real advantage comes when AI is built into the platform from the outset, learns from how an investor thinks and behaves, and becomes more relevant with every decision. That creates a more connected experience across research, execution and portfolio review, while keeping the investor firmly in control.
How can firms determine whether AI genuinely improves the investor experience?
Most firms are still measuring engagement when they should be measuring behavior change. The real test isn’t whether people click on the AI feature, it’s whether it changes what they actually do: do they diversify more, panic-sell less, understand why a recommendation was made. We also watch override rates closely, not as a failure metric, but as a sign investors are staying in control rather than outsourcing judgment.
Repeated interactions with an AI feature are particularly useful signals because they often reveal that the system has not understood the investor or carried enough context forward. In a chatbot experience, that may point to gaps in data integration or weaknesses in the underlying model. At Longbridge, the investor is always in control, while the AI learns from their goals, behavior and decisions to make each interaction more relevant and useful over time.
What do today’s investors expect from trading and research platforms that they didn’t five years ago?
This is the gift that keeps on giving because investor expectations continue to move. Today, people want access to real time data, the ability to fund accounts and trade around the clock, and tools or advice that help them feel more informed and better prepared, all within an experience that feels increasingly personal. That still leaves plenty of room for breakthrough platforms that can bring those expectations together in a way that is useful, relevant and easy to navigate.
What will define the next generation of successful brokerage platforms?
Brokerage has already moved through several major phases, from lower costs to online platforms and mobile trading, and each one made the markets easier to access. The next generation will be shaped by investors who expect more from the experience and want technology to help them make sense of information, move through decisions more easily and learn over time. Firms that can solve needs the industry has left unmet in a way that feels useful, personal and intuitive, while maintaining trust and strong compliance, will be the ones that stand out.
What barriers still exist for women in leadership across financial markets, and are they changing?
I have said before that I am a history nerd when it comes to the way technology has changed this industry, particularly the move from open outcry pits to electronic trading desks. That shift also did more to open trading careers to women than many of the initiatives that were announced with great fanfare, because success became much more closely tied to performance, judgment and whether the technology worked.
What has taken longer to change is who gets direct ownership of revenue and investment outcomes. Women hold many senior roles across compliance, operations and marketing, and those functions are essential, but far fewer are given responsibility for the book, the fund or the P and L. That remains one of the most meaningful barriers, and it is difficult to address through mandates alone.
I do see real progress in fintech, where many firms are building their leadership teams without carrying decades of trading floor culture with them. When companies are creating that bench from the ground up, there is a greater opportunity to focus on talent, performance and potential.
What advice would you give women looking to build careers in financial services and fintech?
Own a number. It could be revenue, exceptions or active users, but choose something that carries your name and moves because of decisions you made. That is one of the fastest ways to move from the rooms where you are asked to explain the work into the rooms where you are trusted to make decisions.
I would also encourage women to learn the part of the business that intimidates them a little. For me, that meant understanding the mechanics beneath an order book as deeply as the P and L it produced. You do not have to be the best quant in the room, but you should know enough that no one can talk past you.
The image for this article was generated using AI.
