(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
A recent study revealed that applications to MBA programs increased 12 percent so far this year with finance concentrations continuing to be the most popular. To those MBA seekers — particularly for those from Harvard and other fine institutions seeking their fortunes on Wall Street — I say this: buyer beware. Your MBA might not help you get that lucrative job. Why? Because AI is already killing your prospects.
Wall Street has its allure. From Gordon Gekko and Jordan Belfort to Logan Roy and Bobby Axelrod, Hollywood and the media have glamorized the wealthy who have conquered the investment banking world. The potential for riches has attracted the very best and brightest MBA students from Harvard, Stanford and other elite universities. Starting salaries at these top firms are at $150,000. But the costs are also high. Up until now, if you’re willing to give up your life, blood and soul to your firm, you would have a chance — a chance — of sharing in the riches.
But things have changed. AI is seeping in. It’s being used right now by those very same firms to kill off the vast majority of people they employ, which include many of those hopeful Harvard MBAs.
Goldman Sachs, for example, has funneled millions into a new large language model that is now used as a “copilot assistant” for its investment bankers. The AI driven application searches through extensive public and proprietary documents to provide answers and extract analysis, translates multiple languages and summarizes data from millions of files.
According to the Wall Street Journal the internal platform allows Goldman to “to fine-tune the models with its own internal data in a safe way and that complies with regulations.” Goldman employees can “access the platform directly to interface with various models which can “answer questions and extract analysis.”
Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley recently introduced its “AI@Morgan Stanley Assistant,” a friendly name for this job killing app that “provides quick access to Morgan Stanley’s intellectual capital.” Using OpenAI’s large language model architecture, the firm’s assistant quickly navigates through hundreds of thousands of research reports, takes notes during client meetings, summarizes key points and even sends automatic updates and tasks to attendees, including clients.
JP Morgan Chase is using AI for wealth management, consumer banking, fraud prevention and customer service. Its “ChatCFO’ product is a tool for their clients to use to access the data they need to run their companies. It’s “IndexGPT” application is “an AI-powered tool for thematic investing, using natural language processing to generate investment baskets.” AI is being used at the firm to help their advisors make recommendations and summarize meetings and their banking group to determine “optimal locations” for new branches and ATM using GPS and demographic data.
UBS has created an AI model for its Mergers and Acquisitions group that scans hundreds of thousands of target firms in seconds, generates buy-side ideas, identifies potential buyers and even highlights companies that are potential targets of activist campaigns which may be an opportunity…or a minefield to avoid.
These are just a few examples. Just about all of the big name investment banks and venture capital firms — from Citigroup, HSBC and Barclays to Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global Management are investing in startups that are building AI applications and infrastructure and quietly building (or buying) applications that can sift through vast amounts of data to discover the next big startup, assess financial health of their investment targets, determine market potential, and perform predictive analytics and decision support. These applications also have algorithms to forecast success rates and make quicker decisions.
Already we’re seeing the future. One report says that AI could also make the investment banking field harder to break into and alter the skills required for entry, with some banks testing tools that could reduce some junior banker tasks to seconds from days. Even Citigroup admits that AI could displace more than 50 percent of banking jobs.
What gives pause is that these applications are just starting. Some are less than a year old. Project yourself ahead just a few years. How long until bots are doing most of the work? Not that long. A single AI application will soon easily perform the research, calculations, analysis and problem solving that dozens — hundreds — of high-paid Harvard MBAs have been doing on Google and spreadsheets for years.
Firms like Goldman Sachs and UBS can not only save thousands of hours of time using AI but will be able to make better, more profitable decisions. Why hire a Harvard MBA when you can have a robot do the work in their place and do it better, round-the-clock and without the need to cut holiday bonus checks?
This is what these firms are all about. They’re driven by math and data and profits and if technology can put a buck more in their partners’ bank accounts it will be leveraged. Can’t blame them. Capitalism and profiteering starts in lower Manhattan. God Bless America.
Of course, some humans will stick around. These will be the very smart and select number of MBAs who will be driving these applications and using them to profit themselves. They’ll recognize the technology’s power, jump on new ideas and become their master. Good for them.
But c’mon — who’s kidding who? These firms stress that these AI tools are not replacing people or eliminating jobs. Baloney. It’s obvious what’s happening. I just hope it’s obvious to those Harvard MBA students. Because AI is already killing them.
