Let’s start with a question we hear all the time: why do we say that ‘data is the fuel for AI’?
To answer that, it helps to look at how AI is different from traditional software.
Traditional software is powerful but it’s still just a tool, and it starts out empty. You have to feed it. You pull data from filing cabinets, spreadsheets, or legacy systems, and you do all the work inputting, structuring, maintaining. If you’re using something like Word, it’s still all on you you’re the one writing, creating, inputting.
AI completely flips that model. It doesn’t start empty — it begins pre-loaded with knowledge drawn from a vast expanse of data, language, and experience from the internet. You don’t have to upload a database before you can talk to it; you simply ask a question, and it can already reason, infer, and decide. It can draw from the world’s collective information, synthesize it.
And when you give it your data, it doesn’t just store it—it starts to reason, generate, and adapt. That’s the shift: from just programming tools to building systems that can actually help you make decisions, spot patterns, and even write the first draft.”
And here’s a true story to prove the point.
One of the very first things I did with ChatGPT was ask it to write a love letter to my wife. I decided to test it — Rumi-style mysticism, Kahlil Gibran’s philosophy, even Wordsworth’s walk-in-the-woods poetry and Mark Twain’s humor.
The result? Absolute perfection.
So perfect, in fact, that I handed it to my wife with a smug smile… and she read it for about three seconds before saying:
“You didn’t write this,”
I confessed.
She laughed.
And for a moment, I had the unsettling realization that AI had finally done the impossible — it made my wife fall in love… just not with me.
The Real Lesson
AI can mimic brilliance.
It can channel Rumi, quote Aristotle, and sound like Mark Twain on a good day.
But what it cannot do — on its own — is sound like you.
Not without context.
Not without your tone, your stories, your preferences, your history.
Your data.
That’s the real breakthrough:
AI becomes powerful not when it knows everything, but when it knows you.
Your data is the map.
Your context is the compass.
Together, they transform AI from a clever machine into a genuine collaborator — one that amplifies your thinking, accelerates your work, and occasionally writes a love letter better than you ever could.
In business, the same rule applies:
the quality of the outcome depends not on how powerful the model is, but on how rich, organized, and contextual your data is.
That’s exactly what we built EtonAI to do — to make your data AI-ready and context- aware so it can fuel true wealth intelligence for the modern family office. When the system understands the structure, lineage, and meaning behind your information, the intelligence becomes specific, relevant, and capable of supporting real fiduciary decisions — not just generating clever text.
This is the shift the world is living through:
from software you have to feed… to systems that learn you.
Yes, ChatGPT may have outperformed me as a poet that day —
but it was my data that gave it meaning.
A Few Samples From the “Competition”
Rumi-style mysticism:
“My love, you are the soul’s eternal flame, a mystic dance in the garden of my heart.
Like a whirling dervish, your presence spins me into realms beyond words.”
Aristotle’s logic:
“In the geometry of life, my dear, you are the axiom that makes all proofs of love consistent.”
Gibran-style philosophy:
“You are not just my beloved; you are the thought that awakens the sleeping spirit within me.”
Wordsworth’s walk-in-the-woods poetry:
“You are the wildflower that blooms in the meadows of my heart, bringing beauty to every ordinary day.”
My actual letter, from my heart no EtonAI, no ChatGPT:
“Somewhere along the way, my heart stopped being mine. You didn’t steal it — it just recognized where it was meant to be. Now that you’re holding it, the world looks different: lighter, warmer, more alive. You’ve become the quiet reason behind everything I do.”
About the Author
Murali Nadarajah is a technology and AI pioneer with 30+ years of experience building intelligent platforms across global industries. At Eton Solutions, he leads the company’s shift toward AI-native wealth management—combining LLMs, agentic automation, and enterprise-grade security. His career reflects a lifelong passion for AI and building systems that elevate human judgment through intelligent automation.
