Cashing In on AI

The banking industry is a large proponent of generative-artificial-intelligence experimentation and adoption, according to Evident Insights's AI Index. The information services firm's research highlights the role leadership, governance, and risk controls will play in adoption strategies. Of a pool of 50 large banks, 41 had dedicated AI governance professionals by the end of 2024.

In addition, many financial institutions are deploying large language models, which companies can pre-train using vast amounts of data. LLMs can perform tasks such as answering questions, summarizing documents, translating languages, and completing sentences.

Last fall, JPMorgan Chase introduced its LLM AI assistant to 140,000 employees. But, before the rollout, the company added prompt engineering training to its onboarding process for new hires within its asset and wealth management department. The financial organization led its industry in AI adoption last year, hiring 20 people in governance roles, according to Evident Insights' AI Index—almost three times the average among the 50 banks.

Morgan Stanley used OpenAI to launch its AskResearchGPT chatbot, which "is emblematic of our tech- forward philosophy in Institutional Securities," says Katy Huberty, global director of research and co-chair of the Morgan Stanley AI Steering Committee, in a press release. "AskResearchGPT boosts our employees' ability to support our clients with just that—better and at scale." Huberty says the company's most important objective is for clients to give them the information they need to minimize risk and produce steady returns.

Continuing the trend, Citigroup has equipped 30,000 developers with generative-AI coding tools, and BNY expanded its partnership with OpenAI to build a Microsoft Copilot-enabled generative-AI platform known as "Eliza."

While Evident Insight's research highlights leadership, governance, and risk control, responsible AI talent comprised just 247 people across 50 banks at the end of 2024 (20 of those at JPMorgan Chase). However, as banks hire more professionals for governance roles, more than half have established AI oversight teams. Comparatively, only 15 banks had AI oversight teams in 2023.