David Li is the CTO at Washington University Investment Management Company, where he’s led a lean, data‑driven build of the endowment’s tech stack. David’s path runs from Harvard Management Company to independent consulting to WashU, bringing a builder’s mindset to the role.
For those not familiar with WashU’s concentrated, co-invest heavy approach, Ted sat down with CIO Scott Wilson a while back, and that conversation is replayed in the feed.
David shares how a modular architecture with Snowflake at the center gives his team cleaner data, faster changes, and less technical debt; and how clear governance and practical security can make for efficient workflows.
We also get into AI adoption in the endowment world - where to use “walled gardens,” and how to spot tools that look great in demos but fall down on data quality.

For emerging and seasoned institutions, David shares concrete advice on buy‑versus‑build, vendor selection, and running pilots that surface issues early, plus how to set expectations and give business owners real responsibility so technology actually matches how investors see their portfolios.
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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)