1300 Moments!
When I analysed a full year of my own financial data recently, I wasn’t looking for budgeting tips or tax efficiencies. I was trying to understand something more fundamental:
What could my data do for me—if it truly worked in my interests?
With AI accelerating, new regulation emerging, and personal-data standards such as MyTerms now live, 2026 feels like a tipping point. For the first time, individuals have the tools, the rights, and the technical infrastructure to reclaim meaningful control over their digital lives.
So I decided to start with myself.
A Year of Data, A Pattern of Life
Looking across my bank transactions and receipts from 2025, I saw a familiar pattern that I suspect most adults would recognise.
In practice, I interact financially with around:
20 core organisations I depend on constantly—my bank, employer, local authority, schools, tax office, transport providers, and main retailers.
30 or so “periodic” providers — utilities, insurers, car leasing, subscriptions—important, but only at key moments.
Around 100 occasional providers, often linked to travel, leisure, or unusual purchases.
And that’s before we even count the vast ecosystem of “free” services—social platforms, public institutions, broadcasters, health providers—where no money changes hands, but data certainly does.
Together, this forms a detailed, living map of modern life.
Not in theory. In practice.
Three Types of Decisions
I then asked a simple question: “Which parts of this life could be improved if I had better tools working for me?”
When I analysed my transactions through that lens, three categories emerged.
1. Fixed Costs: The Unavoidable
About 41% of my transactions fall into this category. Mortgage payments. Taxes. School fees. Council services.
These are largely fixed. Little to optimise. Little to automate. They are what they are.
2. Optimisable Routines: The Everyday
Around 33% sit here. Groceries. Utilities. Insurance renewals. Commuting. Subscriptions.
These are repetitive, predictable, and full of small inefficiencies. With the right support, many could be optimised—or even automated—on my behalf.
3. Big Choices: The High-Stakes Decisions
The remaining 26% involve significant research and judgment. Holidays. Major purchases. Financial products. Education. Home improvements.
These require context, comparison, and confidence.
Automation helps less here. Decision support helps enormously.
The Missed Opportunity in Plain Sight
When I added this up, the scale surprised me.
If I had intelligent tools genuinely working in my interest, there are roughly:
“1,300 moments every year”
where informed support from suppliers would be genuinely valuable.
1,300 times when better information, better timing, and better offers could save me money, time, and stress.
1,300 opportunities for marketing to help—rather than interrupt.
Today, most of those moments are handled badly. Brands guess. Platforms infer. People are tracked. And everyone wastes effort.
Why This Is Possible Now
Five years ago, this vision would have been unrealistic.
Today, three forces have converged.
Open Data Infrastructure: Open banking and data portability mean individuals can finally aggregate meaningful personal records.
Agentic AI: Personal AI agents can now analyse patterns, anticipate needs, and act on behalf of users.
New Governance Standards: The launch of IEEE P7012 / MyTerms enables people to share data and intent on their own terms—safely, transparently, and reversibly.
Together, they make something new possible: A reliable, forward-looking view of personal demand—built for the individual, not extracted by platforms.
From Surveillance to Permission
This challenges the foundations of modern advertising.
Today’s system is built on surveillance and prediction. Track behaviour. Infer intent. Target relentlessly.
It is inefficient, intrusive, and increasingly mistrusted.
The alternative is permission-based intelligence. Individuals voluntarily share future buying intentions, conditions, and preferences.
Brands respond with relevant support. Value flows both ways.
This is not anti-marketing. It is marketing rebuilt on consent, contract, and cooperation.
The Role of Fiduciary Data Agents
This is where DataPal comes in.
Most AI assistants today are owned by platforms whose incentives are misaligned with users.
They monetise attention. They optimise for engagement. They trade in behavioural influence.
DataPal is built differently.
As a fiduciary data service, it is structurally aligned with the individual. Its obligation is to act in the user’s best interests.
Practically, that means:
A personal data dashboard
A secure record of one’s data life
AI agents that optimise for the individual
MyTerms agreements governing every exchange
More like a bank statement for your data than a social feed for your attention.
Why Brands Should Welcome This
This shift is good for individuals. But it is also good for forward-thinking organisations. It offers:
Higher-quality demand signals
Less wasted spend
Better conversion
Stronger loyalty
Lower regulatory risk
More durable trust
Instead of guessing who might be interested, brands hear directly from people who are.
That is more efficient capitalism.
A Glimpse of What Comes Next
Imagine renewing insurance.
Instead of comparison sites, spam, and forms, your agent announces: “Your policy expires in six weeks. Here are three verified offers that meet your terms.”
Or planning a holiday: “Based on your budget, preferences, and calendar, these providers are available—on your conditions.”
Not magic. Not surveillance. Just aligned systems.
A Structural Shift in Power
What this represents is not another martech upgrade.
It is a rebalancing of power.
From platforms to people. From extraction to partnership. From manipulation to enablement.
For decades, personal data has been something done to individuals. It is becoming something done with them.
It Really Is Big. Very Big.
My small experiment with one year of personal data revealed something profound.
The raw material for a fairer, smarter, more human digital economy already exists.
It sits in our accounts, devices, and records. Waiting to be used properly.
With AI, fiduciary services, and MyTerms governance, individuals can finally turn that raw material into leverage.
And when people gain leverage, markets change.Marketing changes. Platforms change. Relationships change.
This is not a marginal improvement. It is a new operating system for personal data.
And it has only just begun.
Get in touch if you’d like to explore this area with us. It’s big…..