Financial institutions are already leveraging AI as a competitive advantage (2024)

“How BNY’s new AI tool Eliza is minting an army of disposable assistants” is an exclusive Fortune report by my colleague Michael del Castillo. With $50 trillion worth of assets under custody or administration, BNY is one of the largest banks in the world to announce a proprietary AI.

Del Castillo writes: “BNY’s new AI tool is named Eliza in honor of the wife of Alexander Hamilton, who founded the bank’s corporate predecessor. The physical part of Eliza’s brain consists of Nvidia microchips and cloud infrastructure powered by Microsoft’s Azure and Google Cloud. But Eliza’s mind, the way she approaches problems, is a BNY original, using OpenAI’s GPT-4, Google’s Gemini and Meta’s Llama.

“While most open-source AIs are essentially one-size-fits-all virtual assistants, Eliza lets employees create bespoke assistants (BNY prefers the term “agent”) and fill them with proprietary data in order to take on particular tasks.” Eliza is currently being used by a quarter of the bank’s employees, which is about 14,000 people.

You can read the full story about how Eliza came to life here.

CEOs in the financial services sector are increasingly embracing generative AI, according to a study by IBM released in June. More than half (57%) of banking and financial markets (BFM) CEOs surveyed said that gaining a competitive advantage will depend on who has the most advanced generative AI.

IBM’s findings are part of an annual global cross-industry study that surveyed more than 3,000 CEOs from over 30 countries and 26 industries. The respondents included 297 CEOs from the BFM sector.

But with the implementation of a technological transformation, there’s a culture change. For that reason, 65% said success with AI will depend more on people’s adoption than the technology itself. Nonetheless, 60% said they are pushing for AI adoption more quickly than some employees might want, according to the study.

Another finding is 53% said they’re struggling to find the talent to fill key technology roles. And due to generative AI, half of the CEOs said they are hiring for roles that did not even exist this time last year. Another aspect of using generative AI is maintaining customer trust—something that will have a greater impact on success than any specific product or service, according to the CEOs.

“Workforce needs are shifting rapidly in the financial services sector and CEOs must ensure that upskilling programs are prioritized,” Shanker Ramamurthy, a global managing partner at IBM Consulting said in a statement.

That’s certainly something to consider as the financial services sector plans to go all in on generative AI.

Have a good weekend.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

The following sections of CFO Daily were curated byGreg McKenna

Leaderboard

Some notable moves this week:

Rachel Ruggeri, CFO of Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), will serve as interim CEO until Sept. 9 when Brian Niccol, currently CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., will join the company as chair and CEO.

Jack Hartung, CFO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG), who recently announced his retirement from Chipotle in 2025, has agreed to remain with the organization indefinitely as president of strategy, finance, and supply chain. Scott Boatwright, COO, will serve as interim CEO.

Robin Kooyman was appointed CFO of Blackline Safety (TSX: BLN), a manufacturer of employee safety technology, effective Sept. 9. She will succeed former CFO Shane Grennan, who resigned in June after eight years in the role to pursue other opportunities, the company said.

Matteo Anversa was appointed CFO of Logitech (Nasdaq: LOGI), a Swiss computer hardware manufacturer, effective Sept. 1. He will succeed interim CFO Meeta Sunderwala, the company’s chief accounting officer.

D. Anthony Scaglione, EVP and CFO of The ODP Corporation (NASDAQ: ODP), a provider of products, services, and technology solutions, is stepping down from his role to pursue another career opportunity.

Nigel Clerkinwas named CFO atICON plc (NASDAQ: ICLR), a health care intelligence and clinical research organization. Most recently, Clerkin was CFO at LetsGetChecked, a global provider of at-home health care services.

Laura Russell was promoted to interim CFO of Rogers Corporation (NYSE: ROG), an Arizona-based electronic components manufacturer, effective Aug. 12. She will succeed former CFO Ram Mayampurath, who has resigned after three years in the role to pursue another opportunity, the company said.

Big Deal

Most executives expect their investments in Gen AI to produce positive returns in the next three years, according to a new survey from KPMG. The firm polled 225 senior business leaders at companies with $1 billion or more in revenue, with 83% of respondents saying GenAI spending will increase over the next three years and 78% confident in the ROI of planned AI investments in that span.

Just 16% of those surveyed said their workforce was highly equipped across all areas necessary for GenAI utilization, however. Sixty-nine percent said their companies are training their workforces in GenAI, while 61% said their firms are actively recruiting to support AI initiatives.

“The leaders I’ve talked to say that they believe a combination of investment in AI technology and talent will pay off in terms of better performance, improved quality and enhanced customer experience and loyalty,” said Carl Carande, vice chair of advisory at KPMG.

Going deeper

Here are a few Fortune weekend reads:

“China’s newfound taste for milk could be a $626 billion business. How U.S. banks and dairy farmers plan to cash in,” by Michael del Castillo

“Starbucks welcomes new CEO Brian Niccol with a $113 million payday—and he can work remotely,” by Amanda Gerut

“The key to getting off the years-long wait list at South Florida’s most exclusive country clubs? $1 million—and your golf clubs,” by Alicia Adamczyk

“Toxic metals found in tampons have set off alarm bells—the kind I responded to 35 years ago when starting my company,” by Susie Hewson

Overheard

“Remember, you have earned the right through years of hard work to choose your next path so your life becomes less transactional, more meaningful, and ultimately happier. What’s your next chapter going to be called? Mine? Rewirement: A Personal Renaissance.”

—Anne Chow writes in a Fortune opinion piece, titled “Fellow Gen Xers: That retirement crisis you’re losing sleep over is a ‘rewirement’ opportunity.” Chow is formerly CEO of AT&T Business, is the lead director on FranklinCovey’s board of directors, a director of 3M and CSX, and author of the upcoming book Lead Bigger: The Transformative Power of Inclusion.