Goldman, AIG execs: AI compresses decade of innovation into one year
Goldman CIO likened the AI revolution to the impact of cloud computing
Financial services companies are shaping strategies to keep up with the frenetic pace of AI transformation.
“It’s 10 years compressed into one,” Peter Zaffino, chief executive of international insurance firm AIG, said during Anthropic’s webinar The Briefing: Financial Services’ today. “It’s unbelievable how fast things are evolving.”
Goldman Sachs Chief Information Officer Marco Argenti, who previously worked at Amazon Web Services, likened the AI revolution to the impact of cloud computing, but with a significantly accelerated timeline.
“I’m kind of living many years of AWS now in one year,” Argenti said. “From a speed standpoint, it’s literally 10x and there is a daily cadence” of innovation. Argenti emphasized that AI revolution goes beyond technological advancements, and fundamentally reshapes how people think and operate.
Adapting AI strategies
AI presents the opportunity to not just streamline tasks but change how people work.
“Every single person in every profession needs to think about how do I actually change my habits, how do I look at things differently, and how can I actually work differently than I used to,” Argenti said.
Zaffino agreed, highlighting the need for financial institutions to quickly adapt their AI strategies.
He sees three areas where AI can help improve AIG:
- Understanding the technology;
- Pattern recognition of how to apply it; and
- Speed of execution.
Goldman Sachs, similarly, is navigating the AI revolution in three waves, each transforming operations and decision-making processes, Argenti said.
The first wave empowered Goldman’s technology team, which comprises nearly a third of the company’s workforce, to operate at an unparalleled pace, he said, adding that he jokes that the team might develop software faster than tech companies.
The second wave focuses on optimizing operational processes, using the reasoning capabilities of AI to enhance efficiency, he said.
However, it is the third wave that holds the most promise for long-term growth and impact, Argenti said. “AI actually will help us make better decisions, better risk decisions, better investment decisions, faster and smarter.”
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