The Morgan Stanley digital sign is seen at the company's headquarters in Times Square in New York, U.S., on Friday, January 12, 2016.
John Taggart | Bloomberg | fake images
Morgan Stanley CNBC promoted a technology executive in its wealth management division to become the bank's first enterprise-wide head of artificial intelligence.
The bank is promoting Jeff McMillan, a New York-based veteran of the bank, to help guide the company's implementation of AI, according to a memo sent Thursday by co-presidents Andy Saperstein and Dan Simkowitz.
Last year, Morgan Stanley became the first major Wall Street firm to create an employee solution based on OpenAI's GPT-4, a project overseen by McMillan.
The move shows the growing importance of artificial intelligence in financial services, brought about by the meteoric rise of generative AI tools that create human-like responses to queries.
While Wall Street firms cut jobs heavily last year, they competed to fill thousands of AI positions, poaching employees from each other.
In June, JPMorgan named Teresa Heitsenrether as chief data and analytics officer in charge of AI adoption. In Goldman SachsChief Information Officer Marco Argenti is seen as the leading proponent of AI.
Read the full Morgan Stanley memo announcing McMillan's new role:
We are pleased to announce that Jeff McMillan has taken on a new role as Head of Artificial Intelligence across the company, reporting jointly to us.
Jeff previously led Wealth Management's analytics, data and innovation organization, where he played a key role in driving Wealth Management's technological evolution, from our Modern Wealth Management platform to our innovative work with our exclusive partner, OpenAI.
In his new role, Jeff will coordinate across the company to ensure we have the right AI strategy and governance in place. To do this, he will partner with business units and infrastructure areas to identify and prioritize AI opportunities; help position the company within the pipeline of AI development across the industry and ensure Morgan Stanley remains a highly respected innovator in AI.
To execute our AI strategy, Jeff will work closely with Mike Pizzi, Head of US Banking and Technology, Sid Visentini, Head of Corporate Strategy, and Katy Huberty, Head of Global Equity Research. Katy and Jeff will co-chair the company-wide AI steering group, comprised of representatives from business and infrastructure units.
Please join us in congratulating Jeff on his new role.
