NinjaTrader Creates AI Role as Kraken-Owned Broker Bets on Prediction Markets

NinjaTrader Group has created a new C-suite role built around artificial intelligence (AI) and prediction markets, the futures broker said today (Tuesday). The company handed the job to Brian Weis, who until now served as its chief product officer.Weis takes the title of chief innovation and AI officer, a seat the firm said did not exist before. His remit covers AI agent development, work on the Model Context Protocol (MCP), and prediction markets, according to the company.A New Title That Doubles as a Strategy SignalRead on its own, this is an internal reshuffle. Weis has held senior product roles at NinjaTrader for more than four years.However, what gives the move weight is the mandate. The three areas Weis will now oversee, AI agents, prediction markets, and the infrastructure linking them, are the same bets NinjaTrader has been placing since crypto exchange Kraken bought it.Kraken completed its $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader in May 2025, folding the Chicago futures broker into its wider PINC Group. Tuesday's announcement does not mention Kraken at all.Prediction Markets Move to the CenterNinjaTrader has spent the past year building toward the exact products Weis is now charged with pushing. In March, it launched NinjaTrader Connect, a business-to-business platform that lets brokers and fintechs offer regulated futures and prediction markets through a single API.That launch landed as prediction market trading volume reached $44 billion in 2025, pulling brokers and technology vendors into a fast-filling space. NinjaTrader has plenty of company there.Devexperts has rolled out tools that let CFD brokers and prop firms bolt on event contracts, while Tradeweb agreed to distribute Kalshi's event data to institutional clients. Prime brokers including Clear Street and Marex have been weighing clearing and execution services for hedge funds that want the same exposure.What NinjaTrader brings to that crowd is a CFTC registration and NFA membership most rivals would need years to obtain.Martin Franchi, CEO of NinjaTrader Group, Source: LinkedInCEO Martin Franchi tied both hires to the same theme. "AI is going to fundamentally reshape how people invest and trade," Franchi said, adding that the company wants its traders on the right side of that shift.A Jump Trading Alumnus Takes Over ProductThe company also named Stephen Yi as chief product officer, the role Weis vacated. Yi joins from digital consultancy Codal, where he was managing director of product and engineering.Before that he spent more than a decade at Jump Trading, one of the largest high-frequency trading firms in the United States. Stephen Yi"I am excited to join the industry's top futures trading platform," Yi said, framing the job as a chance to widen retail access to markets.The hire continues a run of leadership changes at the firm, which expanded its C-suite as retail interest in futures climbed. NinjaTrader says its average user age has fallen from 48 to 38 over five years.Growth Push Runs Alongside Regulatory FrictionThe two appointments cap a busy stretch. NinjaTrader entered prop trading in October with two dedicated platforms under its NT Technologies arm.In January, it extended retail futures access to EU traders through Kraken's Cyprus-regulated entity, and prop firms have since built retail brokerages on its clearing rails.That expansion has drawn scrutiny. The National Futures Association fined NinjaTrader $250,000 in 2025 over anti-money laundering and supervision failures, and the CFTC penalized its clearing arm more than $900,000 the year before.NinjaTrader says it serves more than 3.5 million traders. It has grown that base since 2003, and now runs inside one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world.