Q&A with Andrea Marshall, Head of Digital Marketing Experience at MSCI

Work & Co

MSCI serves some of the most sophisticated investors in the world. What core principles guide you in translating that analytical depth into a digital experience that feels intuitive without diluting rigor?

Andrea Marshall

Our clients are highly sophisticated, so it’s critical that we deeply understand not only their unique needs and how they use our products, but also the journey they are on when making a decision about partnering with us. From a marketing perspective, our role is to understand the nuances of those journeys and how our digital channels and programs support it.

Whether we are introducing a capability they may not have known about, validating something they have been researching, or addressing an unmet need, we need to show up with the right content and the right context within their workflow. And we never dilute the rigor. Our clients rely on MSCI for trusted data, research, and tools that support critical investment decisions. The key is making that depth accessible and intuitive without oversimplifying it.

Work & Co

Now that the redesigned MSCI.com has been live for several months, has anything surprised you about how clients are engaging with it?

Andrea Marshall

We debuted the redesigned MSCI.com during a highly volatile time in marketing. The rapid adoption of large language models and AI-generated search overviews disrupted many of the traditional assumptions around traffic, discovery, and content strategy. While a common approach for companies like ours is to build content strategy where research or thought leadership act as a gateway into offerings, we’ve kept our offerings the primary focus — and the site now behaves more like an e-commerce experience than people might expect in B2B financial services. It’s been effective; our conversion rates are now four times what they were pre-launch.

That focus on usability didn’t start there. Before the rebuild, our customer satisfaction surveys revealed an opportunity to improve how customers found the information they needed associated with Index performance, ratings, and factsheets. The experience was fragmented, so we spent a significant amount of time making navigation clean and intuitive. Since implementing these changes, our traffic patterns and engagement rates show these improvements have been strongly validated.

Work & Co

You’ve described MSCI as a comprehensive ecosystem linking tools, products, research, content, and people. Looking back, what was the biggest challenge in making that ecosystem legible online?

Andrea Marshall

Over the years, we have significantly expanded our capabilities across asset classes and solutions. While that breadth is a strength, we had not always told our story in a way that made it easy for clients and prospects to understand and access all we offer. One of the biggest challenges was helping people connect the dots.

To do that, we focused on enhancing the client experience both on the surface through MSCI.com and behind the scenes through improved client intelligence. On the front end, we clarified our product architecture and messaging so that users can more easily navigate our ecosystem. On the back end, we are investing in data and insights that help us better understand client behaviors and needs so we can deliver more personalized and relevant engagement.

Work & Co

With a modern, scalable platform now live, how has the new foundation strengthened the way clients discover and engage with MSCI’s data, research, and solutions?

Andrea Marshall

Our analytics, brand surveys, and NPS results indicate that the transformation is delivering strongly against our goals of amplifying the brand, deepening engagement, and driving digital conversion. What I can see is that users are finding what they are looking for more easily, engaging more meaningfully with our offerings, and taking action at scale.

Opportunities to drive this level of change do not come often. But in my role, consistently spotting opportunities to evolve our digital ecosystems and meet customers where they are is paramount. So far, the new foundation has strengthened our ability to connect clients and prospects with the data, research, and solutions they rely on, while positioning MSCI for continued innovation in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Work & Co

AI is reshaping how investors access and interpret data. With the new foundation in place, how is that shift influencing where MSCI.com evolves next?

Andrea Marshall

Looking ahead, our 2026 strategy for MSCI.com focuses on a mix of near-term and long-term strategy. We are in the midst of ensuring that our content is structured and optimized so large language models can access accurate, authoritative public-facing information about MSCI. Whether users are conducting research, making comparisons, or exploring new solutions, we want MSCI data and insights represented correctly. We are also closely monitoring how AI agents interact with our site and how information is surfaced in these environments. That feedback is shaping our roadmap.

Beyond foundational optimization, we have a broader AI-based strategy underway that we believe will create meaningful differentiation in the market. While we are not ready to share details, it represents an exciting next step in how clients engage with our digital ecosystem.