How Wall Street's biggest firms are adopting AI

Business Insider reports major banks, hedge funds, private equity firms, and asset managers are deploying internal generative AI tools to speed workflows; JPMorgan has rolled AI to more than 200,000 employees and Citi says nearly 180,000 staff have access to proprietary AI tools.

Business Insider has detailed how large financial firms are adopting generative AI across banks, hedge funds, private equity, and asset managers. Firms are using AI to automate repetitive tasks, speed research and code reviews, and improve search and data structuring. Consultants estimate AI could reshape a large share of banking work by 2030, and major institutions are investing heavily in technology as a result. Reporting highlights both firm-wide rollouts and targeted pilots of more agentic AI systems. Key developments: - JPMorgan is reported to be spending $18 billion a year on technology and has rolled generative AI tools out to more than 200,000 employees; its asset-management arm launched an in-house platform called Proxy IQ to analyze data from over 3,000 annual shareholder meetings and reduce reliance on external proxy advisers. - Goldman Sachs is spending about $6 billion on technology and said in an internal memo that AI would drive efficiency, slow hiring, and lead to a "limited reduction" in roles; it has deployed internal AI assistants across the firm. - Citi reports nearly 180,000 employees in 83 countries have access to its proprietary AI tools, which were used almost 7 million times this year; CEO Jane Fraser said generative AI is saving roughly 100,000 developer hours a week, and Citi began piloting agentic AI with 5,000 employees. - Hedge funds and quant firms are building internal AI capabilities: Bridgewater launched an AI-driven fund in 2024; Citadel uses an internal chatbot for research; WorldQuant is incorporating image and audio data into models; Point72, Balyasny, Man Group, and Viking Global have developed internal AI tools and bots. - Private equity and asset managers are embedding AI into sourcing and portfolio work: Blackstone has invested in enterprise search, EQT built an engine called Motherbrain for deal sourcing, and BlackRock introduced an agentic platform named Asimov for its equity business. - Fintech and crypto firms are also adopting generative AI: Kraken used AI in due diligence for an acquisition, Block open-sourced an internal coding agent, and neobanks like Chime have built private ChatGPT-style assistants to speed product development. Summary: Firms across banking, investment management, private equity, hedge funds, and fintech report concrete uses of generative AI that have sped workflows and reduced time on routine tasks. Many organizations are scaling internal platforms and piloting more autonomous or agentic systems, and how roles and processes will evolve as these tools expand is undetermined at this time.