Episode Details

In this episode of Financial Modeler’s Corner, the Mod Squad, Ian Schnoor, Giles Male, and Paul Barnhurst, speak with Peter Fuller about AI-powered financial modeling and the rapidly changing future of Excel. Peter shares how Tracelight evolved from an AI-for-Excel tool into a broader AI workspace for professionals in finance and consulting.

Peter Fuller is the Co-Founder and CEO of Tracelight, based in London, England. Before founding Tracelight in 2024, he was an early-stage venture capital investor at Entrepreneurs First and spent five years at McKinsey, including time with QuantumBlack, McKinsey’s AI practice. His background combines finance, consulting, venture capital, AI, and financial modeling.

Expect to Learn

• How Tracelight evolved from an AI-for-Excel tool.
• Why specialized AI tools can compete with larger platforms.
• How AI orchestration is changing financial modeling.
• Why enterprise AI adoption is accelerating.
• How AI could transform the role of financial modelers.

Here are a few quotes from the episode:

• "The needs of the top 1% of users are different from the needs of the other billion people using Excel." - Peter Fuller
• "The amount of value that you'll be able to add in the world is now just increasing exponentially." - Peter Fuller

Peter explains why he sees AI as an opportunity for financial modelers rather than simply a threat. As AI becomes more capable, he expects modelers to move beyond manually building spreadsheets and toward creating models that become a persistent part of how businesses operate.

Follow Ian:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianschnoor/

Follow Giles:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15/

Follow Peter:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-fuller-/

Disclosure: Portions of this episode (such as the introduction or promotional segments) use AI-generated voice narration produced under human editorial review.

In Today's Episode:

[00:00] - Trailer & Introduction

[03:40] - Building AI for Excel

[07:14] - Competing With Big AI Labs

[11:27] - Tracelight's Strategy

[15:30] - Tracelight's Core Customers

[16:23] - AI Harnesses & Orchestration

[19:32] - The Future of AI Models

[22:10] - Multi-Model AI Workflows

[27:44] - Enterprise Growth & User Love

[33:32] - The Tracelight Platform

[43:03] - Excel, AI & The Future of Modeling

[47:13] - The Future of Financial Modelers