In today’s big story, dozens of Wall Street employees open up about how they are (or aren’t) using AI on the job.

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The question has dominated the business world for almost two years. Once ChatGPT graced us with its presence, everyone wanted to know how to leverage the tech to get ahead.

Wall Street, with its reams of data and need to analyze complex topics, has always been viewed as fertile ground for the AI revolution. So Business Insider’s finance team spoke with almost three dozen finance workers across the industry about how they’re using AI.

From helping to identify startups to invest in to aggregating thousands of analyst notes to cutting down the time spent on busy work, AI use cases on the Street ran the gamut.

Overall, generative AI typically helped finance professionals do their jobs faster, easier, or both.

Not everyone is sold. Some don’t see the “breakthrough” possibilities of the tech that so many have prophesied, finding it hard to see specific uses of AI in their own processes.

And to be fair, they might not be wrong. As much as Wall Street likes to tout tech adoption, certain corners remain unchanged from decades ago, albeit with a few extra bells and whistles.

AI development doesn’t come cheap. Whether you’re starting from scratch or buying something off the shelf, there’s plenty of costs to consider, from talent to hardware to retraining staff.

Blackstone expects the US to spend roughly $1 trillion over the next five years building and facilitating new data centers that’ll help power the gen AI wave.

That kind of cash means investors will want to see real changes in how things are done thanks to AI. It’s a question Big Tech leaders are already fielding.

On Tuesday, Alphabet executives were pressed on whether Google’s AI overview feature was generating more revenue for the firm, writes BI’s Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert. And Nvidia has plans to show how its customers are making money using its AI chips when it reports earnings next month.

They won’t be alone, as Goldman expects the market to keenly watch if AI spend can translate to revenue.

And that’s in tech where companies are supposed to take big swings on innovative projects! Now consider Wall Street, where ROI is built into the core of the industry.

Will those firms continue pouring money into tech that can’t improve their bottom line? In the end, finance workers’ views on using generative AI, whatever they are, might not matter.

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🔔 Before the opening bell: US stock futures trade mixed early Thursday as investors await more earnings reports and jobless claims data. 

2. Why the (market) party can keep going. Bank of America pointed to narrow junk-bond spreads and $6 trillion in cash as bullish indicators the market rally will continue. Even smaller-cap stocks enjoying a surge is a sign of a “broadening of the rally,” BofA technical analyst Stephen Suttmeier said.

3. Small-cap stocks to buy for big gains amid rally. Historically cheap small-cap stocks are roaring back to life during a risky earnings season. But not all are in the clear, a small-cap strategist at Bank of America warned. Here are 9 stocks in sectors that should outperform.

2. “This is our golf course.” A Hamptons retreat for female founders includes free-flowing rosé, a freebie bin of Larroudé sandals, and a speaker lineup that includes “Sex and the City” author Candace Bushnell. It’s the rare sanctuary where women in business connect without men in the room.

3. Mark Zuckerberg’s brat summer. Hot Zuck Summer is in full swing, both personally and professionally for the Meta founder. He won high praise for open-sourcing Meta’s AI model, Llama 3.1, which he’s been promoting. He also debuted a summer glow with a goggle-shaped tan line around his eyes — though he said it’s not a hint about Meta’s Orion AR project.

2. Group Black was supposed to even the playing field for Black-owned media. Instead, its momentum fizzled. Former staff and people close to the company blame its struggles on advertisers’ broken pledges, internal disorganization, and execution stumbles. They’re left wondering what its future holds.

3. Are your credit card rewards making you a jerk? Companies love rewards, and cardholders do, too. But when everyone at group dinner is rushing to put their card down first, the struggle over who gets the points can get ugly real fast.

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• Hermès, Nissan, Southwest Airlines, and other companies are reporting earnings.

Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Annie Smith, associate producer, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York.

Get in touch. Email us at insidertoday@insider.com

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