AI Case Study

According to Bloomberg: "The team took aim at the most obvious steps for disruption: the routine phone calls, emails and tasks that young bankers plow through at the beginning of every IPO. That included phoning the compliance department to look for potential conflicts, contacting legal to assign lawyers and compiling an organizational book for meetings.

Now that’s all done with the click of a mouse in the new application, which features a step-by-step guide replacing ad hoc training materials and word-of-mouth advice. Hot links trigger processes or fill in forms. Information used across multiple forms is populated automatically.

The firm also streamlined the way that it delivers updates to clients about IPO orders, sending instantaneous details about pricing, size and timing to a phone or tablet application ... In the past, that would have been a static report that Goldman Sachs emailed or faxed to the client’s hotel at the end of the day.

The bank soon concluded the focus on IPOs was too narrow, and it turned attention to other deals, such as corporate mergers and bond sales. To date, more than 150 steps have been mapped across various investment-banking transactions handled by the 2,500 bankers in the division. Hundreds of hours initially saved on IPOs swelled into the thousands as the project grew."

According to a manager interviewed by Bloomberg: 'The new system lets those employees pursue more productive work. They can help draft filings used to communicate with investors and register with the Securities and Exchange Commission, shape marketing strategy or spend more time talking with clients. There’s been no impact on headcount or hiring.'"

This has been an ongoing process running for 2.5 years (to June 2017)