This story is part of ours Chief Innovation Officer for Forecasting series from Gizmodo, a business report from the front lines of the future.
Artificial intelligence has become a key area of interest for businesses across industries – i the banking sector is no exception.
For years, several vast banks have been developing their capabilities and offers in the field of artificial intelligence. With the advent of customer-centric tools such as generative artificial intelligence, banks and their shareholders have an even greater interest in developing top-level technologies and using them to boost productivity and meet the needs of their customers.
Many bank CEOs have already praised the achievements and potential of artificial intelligence in their organizations this year during calls with analysts and letters to shareholders.
Here’s what they say.
Goldman Sachs
Looking longer term, to the extent that this technology develops as expected, there will be significant demand for AI-related infrastructure and therefore financing, which will be a tailwind for our business.
For our own operations, we have a leading team of engineers dedicated to researching and applying machine learning and artificial intelligence applications. We are focused on increasing productivity, especially of our developers, and increasing operational efficiency, while maintaining a high bar for quality, safety and control. As with any modern technology, a thoughtful approach and a careful approach to risk management will be key.
—Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon is particularly excited opportunities that artificial intelligence can create for an investment bank. On a recent call with analysts, he noted that Goldman already sees a “tremendous appetite” from clients to advise and support AI strategies, as well as the potential to continue work in this area.
The AI infrastructure needs of companies and governments “create an ecosystem of activity in our investment banking and market activities,” Solomon said, calling it an area that could grow over the long term.
He said artificial intelligence will become a key focus for the investment bank over the next five to 10 years, serving both clients looking to grow and scale their artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Goldman ranks No. 7 on Evident’s AI Index, though it ranks second to last in terms of transparency.
JPMorgan Chase
While we don’t know the full effect or the exact rate at which AI will change our business – or how it will impact society as a whole – we are fully confident that the consequences will be extraordinary and perhaps as transformative as some of the major technological inventions of the last few hundred years: think of the printing press, the steam engine, electricity, computing, and the Internet, among others
— JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon in his annual letter to shareholders.
JPMorgan Chase was an early adopter of artificial intelligence and in 2018 hired Manuela Veloso as head of artificial intelligence research.
Since then, it has established itself as a leader in the field and has reached the top of the list in both existing Evident AI Index reports, taking first or second place in each of four categories.
The bank does developed its “AI organization materially” last year, said JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, and now hosts more than 2,000 artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) experts and data scientists — more than double Dimon’s 900 reported last year. It has more than 400 manufacturing apply cases in various areas and is exploring further apply of generative AI in its software engineering and customer service practices, he said.
Referring to the potential of artificial intelligence, Dimon saw the potential of this technology to shake up the bank’s workforce:
We anticipate that over time, the apply of artificial intelligence can improve virtually every job and impact the composition of our workforce. It may limit certain job categories or roles, but it may also create others. As we have done in the past, we will be aggressively reskilling and redeploying our talent to ensure we take care of our people if they are affected by this trend.
Bank of Fresh York Mellon
I really don’t think this is a 2024 story. Obviously we’ll be operating in 2024. But if you ask me to try to pinpoint where the real benefits and kind of tailwinds are occurring, I’d actually say it’s not necessarily a 2025 story, although maybe we’ll see some in 2025. I think that this is a benefit in 2026 and on the expenditure line.
— Bank of Fresh York Mellon CEO Robin Vince
BNY Mellon last month Nvidia’s DGX SuperPOD was implemented, an AI supercomputer that will aid power a centralized AI center. There are currently over 20 artificial intelligence solutions in production.
The financial services giant, which oversees more than $50 trillion in assets, has identified “hundreds of apply cases” in its offering, with several of them in production, CEO Robin Vince said on a call with analysts last week.
Vince emphasized the importance of banking artificial intelligence centers, called “centers of excellence,” because, in his words, “problem statements that sound different may actually have very common causes.”
Bank of America
We apply artificial intelligence for customer service at Erica. We are piloting the apply of artificial intelligence in computer programming to improve the way we code, in areas where we currently apply machine learning and algorithm models, and in other areas. Artificial intelligence can be applied effectively. Erica tells us this. But it has to be done carefully.
— Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan in his annual letter to shareholders.
Despite CEO Brian Moynihan’s seemingly more reserved view of artificial intelligence, Bank of America is also taking a forward-looking stance on the technology.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank holds more than 4,500 patents, many of which focus on digital innovation, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, and is ranked 15th on the Evident Index.
Its AI-powered financial assistant, Erica, has resolved 43% of enterprise customer queries since its launch in 2018. Earlier this month, the chatbot surpassed two billion customer interactions since it began engaging with customers – adding 500 million interactions as of July 2023.
Black Rock
We continue to invest in artificial intelligence. Our recent experience of having $2.5 trillion more in assets with the same number of employees really demonstrates how we strive to drive efficiency and productivity. I think this is critical.
We are going to lower inflation in America. It needs to be done this way, using technology that will boost productivity. Overall, we will continue to boost productivity through this process.
This also means pay increases, so people do more and the entire organization does more with fewer employees as a percentage of the overall organization. This is truly our ambition.
—BlackRock CEO Larry Fink
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has taken a broad and economically focused stance on the potential benefits that AI could bring to the investment banking giant and the economy as a whole, namely how AI could boost productivity growth, which in turn would raise wages and helped beat inflation in the United States
At a conference hosted by Deutsche Bank last year, Fink said BlackRock technology experts believe artificial intelligence could boost the investment bank’s productivity by up to 30%.
BlackRock, z $10 trillion in assets under managementit also wants to be at the heart of AI innovation, becoming the main source of the massive infrastructure needed by AI companies.
Karol Schwab
I think when you move to something like generative AI, it’s going to take a while for the technology to mature. I know it may not live up to the hype some people are talking about, but I think the technology will have to mature. There will be a lot of work with regulators to ensure that we can deliver products to customers without some of the inherent biases that can sometimes be seen.
— Charles Schwab, CEO Walter Bettinger
Charles Schwab, CEO of Walter Bettinger described artificial intelligence as a “large, large opportunity” for the financial services giant in customer service.
The bank has been using artificial intelligence for security and fraud detection purposes for “several years,” he added. Bettinger pointed to the great potential of artificial intelligence when it comes to filling gaps in knowledge and experience among employees and improving digital customer experiences.
“We tend to believe that the best solution for our customers will be to combine artificial intelligence with humans,” he said.
Charles Schwab ranks 47th in the AI Index, and ranks near last in innovation, leadership and transparency. According to the report, its greatest strength is its talent for implementing artificial intelligence, focused on software development and product management functions.
