How AI is destroying the Harvard MBA

A recent study found that applications to MBA programs are up 12 percent so far this year, with finance concentrations remaining the most popular. To MBA aspirants—especially those from Harvard and other fine institutions seeking their fortune on Wall Street—I say this: Buyer beware. Your MBA may not help you get that lucrative job. Why? Because AI is already destroying your prospects.

Wall Street has its charm. From Gordon Gekko and Jordan Belfort to Logan Roy and Bobby Axelrod, Hollywood and the media have glorified the wealthy who have conquered the investment banking world. The potential for wealth has attracted the very best and brightest MBA students from Harvard, Stanford and other elite universities. Starting salaries at these top companies are $150,000. But the costs are also high. Until now, if you were willing to sacrifice your life, blood, and soul for your business, you had a chance – a chance – to share in the riches.

But things have changed. AI is penetrating society. It is currently being used by these same companies to kill the vast majority of their employees, including many of those Harvard MBA hopefuls.

Goldman Sachs, for example, has poured millions into a new major language model that is now being used as a “copilot assistant” for its investment bankers. The AI-driven application mines massive public and proprietary documents to provide answers and extract analysis, translates multiple languages, and aggregates data from millions of files.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the internal platform allows Goldman to “refine models using its own internal data in a secure and compliant manner.” Goldman employees can “directly access the platform to interact with various models that can “answer questions and extract analysis.”

Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley recently unveiled its “AI@Morgan Stanley Assistant,” a friendly name for this job-killing app that “provides rapid access to Morgan Stanley’s intellectual capital.” Using OpenAI's large language model architecture, the company's assistant quickly navigates through hundreds of thousands of research reports, takes notes during customer meetings, summarizes key points, and even sends automatic updates and tasks to participants, including customers.

JP Morgan Chase uses AI for wealth management, consumer banking, fraud prevention and customer service. The ChatCFO product is a tool that allows customers to access the data they need to run their businesses. The IndexGPT application is “an AI-powered thematic investing tool that leverages natural language processing to generate investment baskets.” AI is used in the firm to help its advisors make recommendations and summarize meetings, and their banking group to use GPS and demographic data to identify “optimal locations” for new branches and ATMs.

UBS has developed an AI model for its Mergers and Acquisitions group that scans hundreds of thousands of target companies in seconds, generating purchase ideas, identifying potential buyers and even highlighting companies that are potential targets of activist campaigns that could represent an opportunity. .or a minefield to avoid.

These are just a few examples. Almost all major investment banks and venture capital firms – from Citigroup, HSBC and Barclays to Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Tiger Global Management – ​​are investing in startups that are developing and quietly developing (or buying) applications for AI applications and infrastructure. can search through massive amounts of data to discover the next big startup, assess the financial health of their investment targets, determine market potential, and perform predictive analysis and decision support. These applications also have algorithms to predict success rates and make faster decisions.

We are already looking into the future. A report says AI could also make it harder to enter the investment banking space and change the skills needed to get started. Some banks are testing tools that could reduce some of the tasks of junior bankers from days to seconds. Even Citigroup admits that AI could replace more than 50 percent of banking jobs.

What worries us is the fact that these applications are just beginning. Some are less than a year old. Project yourself just a few years ahead. How long does it take for bots to do most of the work? Not that long. A single AI application will soon be able to easily do the research, calculations, analysis and problem-solving that dozens – hundreds – of high-paying Harvard MBAs have been doing on Google and spreadsheets for years.

Companies like Goldman Sachs and UBS can not only save thousands of hours of time by using AI, but also make better and more profitable decisions. Why hire a Harvard MBA graduate when a robot can do the job in his place, 24/7 and without the need to cut vacation pay checks?

That's what these companies are all about. They are driven by math, data and profits, and if technology can bring more money to their partners' bank accounts, this will be leveraged. I can't blame them. Capitalism and greed begin in Lower Manhattan. God bless America.

Of course some people will stay here. These are the extremely bright and select group of MBAs who will advance these applications and use them to their own advantage. You will realize the power of technology, embrace new ideas and become masters of it. Good for you.

But come on – who’s kidding who? These companies emphasize that these AI tools will neither replace people nor eliminate jobs. Nonsense. It's obvious what's happening. I just hope it's obvious to Harvard MBA students. Because the AI ​​is already killing them.