Morgan Stanley has joined other banks in appointing an executive to head the bank’s overall AI efforts and strategy.
The New York-based bank has promoted Jeff McMillan as its new head of firm-wide artificial intelligence, CNBC reported.
McMillan formerly led the analytics, data, and innovation team in the bank’s wealth management unit. In that role he oversaw the launch of AI @ Morgan Stanley Assistant, the first chatbot for financial advisors used by a major Wall Street Bank that is powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4.
Morgan Stanley co-presidents Andy Saperstein and Dan Simkowitz notified employees of the appointment in a memo on Thursday.
“In his new role, Jeff will coordinate across the Firm to ensure we have the appropriate AI strategy and governance in place,” said the memo obtained by Quartz.
This news comes as other banks have already assigned executives to lead their AI initiatives.
JPMorgan Chase appointed Teresa Heitsenrether as its chief data and analytics officer in June. As part of the appointment, Heitsenrether was put in charge of the bank’s adoption of AI. Goldman Sachs chief information officer Marco Argenti has been outspoken of the bank’s AI projects.
AI: the future of the finance sector
Banking is one of the largest users and spenders in AI, according to S&P Global. In 2023, banking accounted for 13% of the $166 billion spent globally in AI. Banking, financial services, and insurance accounted for about 18% of the machine learning market in 2022.
Here are some examples of how banks are using AI:
- 🕵️♂️ Barclays uses AI to combat fraud by monitoring real time payment transactions.
- 📈 Banco Santander uses the tech for risk assessment when making investing and lending decisions.
- 💳 Discover uses the Zest Automated Machine Learning platform to make credit underwriting decisions.
- 🤖 Wells Fargo uses AI to power its client facing virtual assistant Fargo.