Career

Mike Shimerda is a senior data and commercial executive with more than 20 years of experience across North America, Asia and Europe, working at the intersection of data, technology, financial services and high-growth businesses. His career has focused on identifying commercial opportunities within data assets, developing new markets and building the partnerships and strategies required to turn complex information into commercially valuable products.

Mike most recently served as General Manager, Tech and Data Strategy at ASX, where he focused on technology and data strategy and inorganic growth opportunities. Prior to ASX, he held senior commercial and data leadership roles across the United States, including with Acadia Data, FirstParty, PurpleLab and 7Park Data, following an extensive career with Bloomberg.

At Bloomberg, Mike led global alternative data acquisition efforts and worked across financial markets and data strategy in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Asia. At 7Park Data, he helped shape the company's data strategy and strategic partnerships as the business developed alternative data products across multiple verticals. His career has given him a strong understanding of how organisations can identify valuable data, develop practical use cases and create commercial models around it.

Role at Factor

Mike brings a distinctive commercial data perspective to Factor’s Expert Advisor Network, helping executives understand how to move beyond treating data as an operational by-product and instead identify where it can become a strategic and commercial asset. His experience spans the full journey from discovering valuable data through to productisation, partnerships, distribution and monetisation.

His advisory perspective is particularly relevant to organisations sitting on large, fragmented or underutilised datasets and looking to understand their commercial potential. Mike can help leaders assess data use cases, identify potential customers and markets, structure partnerships and determine how data products can generate new revenue or strengthen existing business models.

Mike is also well suited to executive roundtables exploring the commercial implications of AI, alternative data and data products. His experience across financial markets, technology and data businesses provides a practical perspective on where organisations can find value in messy or unconventional datasets and what is required to turn that opportunity into something commercially viable.

Key roles Mike works with include: CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, Chief Data Officers, Chief Data & Analytics Officers, Chief Digital Officers, Chief Strategy Officers, Chief Commercial Officers, Chief Product Officers, and Corporate Development & Investment Leaders.

Previous Roles

Most recently, Mike was General Manager, Tech and Data Strategy at ASX, where he worked across technology and data strategy and focused on identifying inorganic growth opportunities. His time at ASX also included exposure to the commercialisation of market and financial data, including the development of data products and new approaches to making complex market information more accessible and commercially useful.

Prior to ASX, Mike was Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Acadia Data and Vice President of Business Development at FirstParty, building on his experience in data-driven commercial strategy and business development. At PurpleLab, he led business development for a healthcare data business focused on converting complex data into healthcare intelligence across payers, providers, life sciences, investors and other markets.

At 7Park Data, Mike served as Director of Strategic Partnerships, helping develop the commercial and strategic potential of alternative datasets across multiple industry verticals. The business was subsequently acquired by Vista Equity Partners in 2018. His work at 7Park built on his earlier experience at Bloomberg, where he led global alternative data acquisition and previously worked across data acquisition and financial markets.

Mike's earlier career with Bloomberg included developing data relationships across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific before taking on broader responsibility across Asian markets. His experience sourcing and evaluating alternative datasets has given him a deep understanding of how organisations can identify non-traditional sources of information and assess their potential commercial applications.

Media Presence and Industry Contributions

Mike is an established voice in the alternative data and financial information space, with experience contributing to industry discussions around alternative data, data partnerships, market intelligence and the commercial application of data. His work has included discussions with financial market participants on how alternative datasets can create new insights and commercial opportunities.

A recurring focus of Mike's career has been identifying value in data that is difficult to access, understand or commercialise. He brings practical experience in evaluating data use cases, building data acquisition strategies and connecting data assets with customers and markets that can derive value from them.

His cross-market experience across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia gives him a broad perspective on how data strategies and commercial models differ across industries and geographies. He brings particular insight into the intersection of data, technology, partnerships and growth strategy.

Leadership Philosophy

Mike believes the commercial value of data is determined by what an organisation can actually do with it. Having more data is not inherently valuable; the opportunity lies in identifying the right use case, connecting it to a real customer or business need and building a model that can deliver sustainable value.

He places strong emphasis on understanding the commercial problem before building the product. His experience across data acquisition, product strategy, partnerships and business development has reinforced the importance of starting with the customer and working backwards to determine which data, technology and distribution model can create the strongest outcome.

Mike brings an entrepreneurial and commercially pragmatic approach to leadership, particularly in environments where organisations are exploring new markets or uncertain opportunities. His experience building new data businesses, developing strategic partnerships and identifying inorganic growth opportunities enables him to help executives move from interesting data concepts to commercially credible strategies.