THE AI & FINANCE LECTURE SERIES
September 8th 2023 | 9AM-5PM | Midtown East
Join us to learn more about gen AI, large language models and more with morning lectures, afternoon panels and intimate networking in a warm, comfortable, intellectual setting with some of the best minds in the space.
Location
DuMont Building
10th Floor
515 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Agenda
| Time | Format | Subject | Speaker / Panelists |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:30 | Check-In Opens | ||
| 9:00 | Opening | State of AI in Finance | Professor Jamiel Sheikh CEO, Scifn |
| 9:15 | Lecture | Understanding FinGPT: The Financial LLM | Xiao-Yang Liu Founder, FinGPT |
| 10:00 | Lecture | Leveraging Generative AI in Quantitative Finance | Yousra Aoudi Vice President BNY Mellon |
| 11:00 | Power Break | ||
| 11:15 | Lecture | Intersection of AI and Finance | Raj Shroff Director, Blu AI |
| 11:35 | Lecture | Unlocking the Potential of Large Language Models in the Cloud: Balancing Privacy, Security, and Performance | Professor Peter Kowalchuk Microsoft |
Noon | Lunch & Networking | ||
| 1:00 | Panel | From Hype to Practice: Navigating the Realities of AI Implementation in Financial Services | Led by Rajendra Shroff, Blu AI Hariom Tatsat Author “Machine Learning Blueprints for Finance” Martin Ouko TIAA Global AI Diana Meditz Director, BNY Mellon’s AI Hub |
| 1:30 | Panel | Machine Learning & GPT in Portfolio Construction & Optimization | Led by Irina Kurakin Barclays Iro Tasitsiomi, PhD Head of Investments Data Science T. Rowe Price Erin Stanton Global Head of Portfolio and Trading Analytics Ronnie Shah Quant Research |
| 2:00 | Panel | Integrating AI in Finance: Balancing Innovation and Ethics | Led by Anne Griffin AI NYC Stefan Jansen CEO Applied AI Jessica Shpall Rosen Partner Greenwald Doherty |
2:30 | Coffee Break & Networking | ||
| 3:00 | Panel | Addressing Risks and Challenges of Deploying Models for Large-Scale Use | Led by Frank Greco (Big internet search company) Mehdi Esmail Cofounder ValidMind Ruth Yabuku Microsoft Alessandro Petroni Tech Advisor |
| 3:30 | Panel | The Rapid Convergence of AI and Digital Assets | Led by Lynne Marlor Cofounder WIDAF Reba Beeson General Counsel, AlphaPoint Andrew Li VP, Quant Research State Street Frances Zelazny Co-Founder & CEO, Anonybit |
| 4:00 | Panel | Applied Environmental Intelligence at Financials: Leveraging AI to Address Climate Risks and ESG Concerns | Led Xiaochen Zhang President FinTech4Good Dmitry Novikov Head of Equities Research Franklin Templeton Ravi Sarkar Enterprise CTO, Microsoft Financial Services |
| 4:30 | Talk | How Goldman Sachs uses AI | Rohan Doctor, Goldman Sachs, CEO Louisa AI |
| 5:00 | Closing Remarks & Networking | ||
Speakers
(Additional speakers confirming)
Professor Jamiel Sheikh
Irina Kurakin
Iro Tasitsiomi
Rajendra Shroff
Ruth Yakubu
Anne Griffin
Stefan Jansen
Professor Peter Kowalchuk
Frank Greco
Mehdi Esmail
Jessica Shpall Rosen
Lynne Marlor
Xiaochen Zhang
Ronnie Shah
Martin Ouko
Erin Stanton
David Palmer
Hariom Tatsat
Xiaoyang Liu
Alessandro Petroni
Diana Meditz
Andrew Li
Arthur Rabatin
Ravi Sarkar
Bios
| Speaker | Title | Bio |
|---|---|---|
| Professor Jamiel Sheikh | CEO, Scifn | Jamiel is founder & CEO of Scifn, a blockchain and AI services, education and products company, bestselling author, professor & educator, community builder, board member, event organizer, Forbes contributor, running media assets like Blockchain101.com and Currency Insider and products like Disburse, Instamint and Fnberry. He founded the CBDC Think Tank which works with central banks and governments and runs AI NYC and Blockchain NYC, one of the largest communities in the world hosting events like DARC, DEFICON, AI+FIN and more. He has over 25 years of experience in technology, finance and capital markets. He is also an expert member of the UN Digital Currency Global Initiative and Digital Euro Association. Jamiel is Innovation Fellow at Columbia Business School’s Lang Center for Entrepreneurship, holds an MBA from Columbia University’s Business School and BBA from Baruch College and is completing his second Masters in Artificial Intelligence from Georgia Institute of Technology. |
| Rajendra Shroff | Director, Head of Applied AI Research | Raj is the Director of Applied AI Research at Blu Artificial Intelligence, a consulting firm specializing in AI strategy, projects, and education. He also teaches university courses covering the business applications of AI & emerging technology. Raj previously worked at AXA, an insurance multinational, across IT projects and finance. |
| Iro Tasitsiomi, PhD | Head of Investments Data Science, T. Rowe Price | Iro is an experienced executive with 14+ years using data science – ranging from classical statistics, math and science methods to the most cutting edge machine learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP) & Generative AI algorithms – in places such as T. Rowe Price, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and Prudential Financial to provide superior business outcomes. Iro earned a PhD in Astrophysics and a Masters in Physics from the University of Chicago. She was previously a fellow and lecturer at Princeton University. |
| Stefan Jansen | CEO, Applied AI | Stefan Jansen is the founder and CEO of Applied AI, where he advises Fortune 500 companies, investment firms and startups across industries on data & AI strategy, building data science teams, and developing ML solutions. He is also the author of the book ‘ML for Trading’, 2nd ed. Earlier, he was a partner and managing director at an international investment firm where he built the predictive analytics and investment research practice. He holds master degrees in Computer Science and Economics from Georgia Tech and Harvard University. |
| Professor Peter Kowalchuk | AI/ML Solutions, Microsoft | Peter Kowalchuk has over 25 years of industry experience, starting his career in the energy sector and later joining Microsoft’s Cloud for Industries team. His experience includes designing data systems with a particular focus on data analysis, including ML and AI solutions. He specializes in the use of advanced AI technologies such as Generative AI to develop cutting-edge cloud-based solutions for diverse sectors’ customers and partners. Peter holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering, an MBA, and a Masters in Data Science. Additionally, he serves as an Adjunct Professor at the City University of New York. |
| Jessica Shpall Rosen | Partner, Greenwald Doherty | Jessica Shpall Rosen is a partner at Greenwald Doherty LLP, where she helps companies untangle workplace legal issues. Jessica also facilitates the “GC x AI Working Group,” a peer network for General Counsels who want to demystify AI and help their stakeholders (safely) unlock its potential. |
| Irina Kurakin | Global Technology Team Leader, Barclays | Irina Kurakin is a commercial technology executive with 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry. Her focus has been on platform delivery and process transformation in Capital Markets. Currently, she leads a Global Technology Team at Barclays Bank in FICC Trading. Before Barclays, she spent 20 years with Bank of America and Goldman Sachs in various Senior Technology leadership roles. Irina is a tech enthusiast who gets pretty passionate about crafting ways to foster innovation and drives digital transformation. Irina is an active member of Women’s Bond Club and various other DEI initiatives propelling women forward in finance and fintech. Irina holds MBA in Finance from NYU Stern and B.S. in Computer Science and Economics from SUNY Stony Brook. |
| Xiao-Yang Liu | Founder, FinGPT | Xiao-Yang Liu is a new faculty in the Department of Computer Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) University. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University. His research interests include tensor networks and high performance tensor computing, and deep learning. He created several popular open-source AI4Finance projects, including FinGPT, FinRL, and ElegantRl. He contributed one chapter to a textbook on “Tensors for Data Processing: Theory, Methods, and Applications”, and two chapters a textbook on “Reinforcement Learning for Cyber-Physical Systems”. He serves as PC members for NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, AAAI, IJCAI, AISTATS, ACM MM, ACM ICAIF, ICASSP, and a Session Chair for IJCAI 2019. He organized the NeurIPS 2020/2021 First/Second Workshop on Quantum Tensor Networks in Machine Learning, IJCAI 2020 Workshop on Tensor Networks Representations in Machine Learning, and NeurIPS 2019/2020 Workshop on Machine Learning for Autonomous Driving. |
| David Palmer | Chief Product Officer, Vodafone | David Palmer is a digital visionary, global platform innovator and author. He is the Chief Product Officer and co-founder of Vodafone’s Digital Asset Broker (DAB) platform, and one of the leaders in blockchain technology for Vodafone Business. David is a recognised thought leader in blockchain, Web3 and the application of these technologies to telecoms and wider enterprise business. David is an expert on the convergence of digital technologies and new business models, and he is currently exploring the opportunities associated with IoT, Blockchain, DeFi, Digital Identity.AI and the Metaverse. |
| Lynne Marlor | Co-Founder, Women in Digital Assets Forum | With over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, I am a transformational leader and a passionate advocate for Digital Assets and Blockchain technology. I am the Co-Founder of Women in Digital Assets Forum (WIDAF.CO). WIDAF promotes equity and inclusion in the Digital Assets space by fostering networking and educational events globally. Our first event in Stamford CT, June 6 brought together women from the curious to the C-Suite, inspired by the transformational power of Blockchain and Digital Assets. Our mission is to create THE space for women to learn, grow, thrive, contribute and excel in the Digital Assets space. My experience as the Founder of Transformational Strategies, LLC., a consulting firm that helps clients leverage blockchain solutions for various business challenges and as Chair of the Boston Blockchain Association (BBA), a non-profit organization that promotes blockchain education, innovation, and collaboration in the Greater Boston area has served me well to be a leader in this emerging ecosystem. As an ambassador for the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), a leading industry association that fosters the adoption and regulation of blockchain across sectors and regions and a recipient of the Blockchain Strategy from the University of Oxford, I am immersed in this ecosystem. My extensive experience in capital markets, finance and foreign exchange provide the foundation to understand and emerge from TradFi to DeFI. I bring a wealth of knowledge of compliance, governance and operations that can empower companies and individuals to harness the potential of Blockchain for social good, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. Senior Advisory, AlgoDynamix (AI based crypto basket) |
| Anne Griffin | Product Manager Leader, AI NYC | Anne is a product manager, startup advisor, and subject matter expert in AI, blockchain, tech ethics and product inclusivity. She has lectured at universities such as Columbia and West Point, spoken at major events such as SXSW, and created courses for O’Reilly Media. She’s built her career in tech working with startups, including the blockchain technology company ConsenSys, and Fortune 500 companies such as Priceline, Comcast, and Microsoft. She has been quoted in Rolling Stone magazine for her insights on AI. You can also listen to her takes on AI, blockchain, and other technologies on the YouTube Original series, RetroTech with Marquees Brownlee, and podcasts such as Blockchain Won’t Save the World, and Let’s Chat Ethics. Anne continues to work with and research the practical human aspects of technology and building products with emerging and disruptive technologies |
| Xiaochen Zhang | President, FinTech4Good | Xiaochen is the President of FinTech4Good, a venture building firm to empower financial services through emerging technologies. He is also the former Global Head of Innovation & Go-To-Market with AWS.In the past 20 years, he worked with many portfolio companies in launching new offers, entering into new markets and building transformative collaborative initiatives with the most reputable organizations from all over the world to reshape the future of finance with emerging technologies. |
| Frank Greco | Senior Consultant, (Large internet search company) & Director of Technology Crossroads Technologies, Chairman @NYJavaSIG | Frank Greco is a Java Champion and enterprise architect focused on machine learning, cloud, and mobile/edge computing. He is an educator, technology manager, frequent writer, and author, as well as achievements in strategic technology/business partnerships, enterprise infrastructure, and emerging technologies, particularly for financial systems and large enterprises. He is currently a senior technology consultant for a very large search company. Frank is the co-author of JSR #318, Visual Recognition Machine Learning API for Java. He is a frequent global speaker at major technology trade shows such as JavaOne, QCon, DevNexus, Jfokus, Devoxx, Technology Transfer International, etc. |
| Ruth Yakubu | Principal Cloud Advocate, Microsoft | Ruth Yakubu is a Principal Cloud Advocate at Microsoft. Ruth specializes in Java, Advanced Analytics, Data Platforms and Artificial Intelligence (AI). In addition, she’s been a tech speaker at several conferences like Microsoft Ignite, O’reilly velocity, Devoxx UK, Grace Hopper Dublin, TechSummit, Websummit and numerous other developer conferences. Prior to Microsoft, She has also worked for great companies like UNISYS, ACCENTURE and DIRECTV over the years where she gained a lot of experience with software architectural design and programming. She’s awarded Dzone.com’s Most Valued Blogger. |
| Mehdi Esmail | Cofounder & Chief Product Officer, ValidMind | Mehdi Esmail is Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Validmind, a VC-backed startup focused on AI Risk Management and Governance for Financial Services. He has over a decade of experience in data, analytics, and risk management for the Financial Services industry, both as an operator (notably working with the Chief Data Officer at American Express to help operationalize the company’s ML strategy) and as a consultant (helping Fortune 500 Financial Services companies build ML capabilities while at Booz Allen Hamilton and ZenonAI). |
| Hariom Tatsat | Author “Machine Learning Blueprints for Finance” | Hariom Tatsat currently works as a Vice President in the Quantitative Analytics division of an investment bank in in New York. Hariom has extensive experience as a Quant in the areas of predictive modelling, financial instrument pricing, and risk management in several global investment banks and financial organizations. He completed his MS at UC Berkeley, his BE at IIT Kharagpur (India). |
| Erin Stanton | Global Head of Portfolio and Trading Analytics, Virtu Financial | Erin Stanton is a leader in the field of data science, automation, machine learning/AI and big data and is known for her big energy which she brings to everything she does. With a wealth of experience spanning over 15 years in the industry, she presently serves as the head of Virtu’s Analytics Global Client Support team. Beyond her daily duties, Erin actively supports the inclusion of women in data science and leads Virtu’s Women in Data Science conference annually. Erin earned her undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Economics from Lehigh University and holds a Master’s degree in Information and Data Science from UC Berkeley. |
| Emmanuel Richard | Chief Growth Officer and Managing Director North America, Opensee | Emmanuel Richard is Chief Growth Officer and Managing Director North America at Opensee, a FinTech Series A startup leveraging AI, Cloud and Big Data to empower Financial Risk professionals to reach the explainability level of their regulatory and internal analysis, calculations and simulations. Emmanuel has been an expert and an executive in the technology and analytics space for over 20 years, from object oriented development, to applicative observability, business intelligence, Big Data analytics and Artificial Intelligence – across companies like Microsoft, MicroStrategy, Borland or Quest Software. |
| Ronnie Shah | Former Head of Quantitative Equity Research, FORT LP | Ronnie is the former Head of Quantitative Equity Research for FORT LP, a $6.5bn hedge fund located in Washington, DC. Before joining FORT, Dr. Shah was head of Quantitative Equity Research at Deutsche Bank, Senior Director of Research for Gerstein Fisher Funds, Senior Researcher at Dimensional Fund Advisors and a Portfolio Manager for the Scientific Active Equity team at BlackRock. His research has been published in various academic and practitioner financial journals. Ronnie graduated summa cum laude with a BS in economics from the Wharton School and BAS in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, an MSc in finance and economics from the London School of Economics, and an MA and PhD, both in finance, from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of Finance at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. |
| Martin Ouko | Operations team Leader, TIAA Global AI | Martin Ouko currently leads TIAA Global AI Operations team tasked with designing, developing elegant AI systems that solve business problems and challenges of varying complexities. Martin also serves as a Global Thought Leader and a Conference Speaker on Artificial Intelligence. |
| Alessandro Petroni | Independent Executive Advisor | Alessandro Petroni is an executive technology advisor for emerging technologies, AI solutions and open source leader. He served as director of go-to-market strategy for financial services at Red Hat (IBM), managed Application Services at Deutsche Bank and engineered capital markets trading platforms at Merrill Lynch Bank of America. He was a Linux Foundation FINOS board director, publisher and is author of APIs for Financial Services ebook. Alessandro graduated Master Computer Engineering at the University of Trento, Italy, and holds MIT AI/ML and Harvard Business School business strategy certifications. |
| Frances Zelazny | Co-Founder & CEO, Anonybit | Frances Zelazny is Co-Founder & CEO of Anonybit, a decentralized biometrics infrastructure (not blockchain!) that is breaking new ground in the area of user privacy and digital security. Since her early days in identity management, Frances has been an outspoken advocate for consumer privacy and the responsible use of biometric data. |
| Diana Meditz | Director, BNY Mellon’s AI Hub | Diana is a Director in BNY Mellon’s AI Hub. As an AI Solutions Lead, she is responsible for driving innovation, identifying and tackling impactful problem statements with AI, while demystifying these capabilities for greater use across the enterprise. She serves as an internal consultant to senior leadership and key stakeholders within the business to uncover business needs and propose solutions utilizing advanced digital solutions. She has more than 10 years of experience in the areas of strategy development, strategic initiative execution and technology prioritization. |
| Andrew Li | Vice President, State Street Associates | Andrew Li is Vice President and Quantitative Researcher at State Street Associates, a hub for data science, quantitative research and academic partnerships, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Andrew focuses on leveraging machine learning and advanced quantitative modeling to tackle investment challenges and create investment strategies. Andrew has co-authored journal articles and works closely with institutional clients to deliver research through practical applications, advisory projects, and thought leadership publications. Andrew graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brown University with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics and Economics and graduated from MIT with a Master of Finance |
| Reba Beeson | General Counsel, AlphaPoint | Reba Beeson is General Counsel at AlphaPoint, a leading financial technology company. An attorney and compliance professional focused on alternative investments, fintech, and structured finance, Reba has over 15 years of experience in capital markets, renewable energy, and impact investing. As former Deputy General Counsel for the World Gold Council, Reba provided legal and strategic counsel on the world's largest gold-backed ETF and related funds with over $80B in assets. Reba holds a J.D. from Temple University, an LL.M. in Tax Law from NYU, and an Executive Management Certificate from Harvard Business School. |
| Yousra Aoudi | Quantitative Analyst, VP at BNY Mellon | With a strong background in quantitative finance, trading, and data-driven strategy development, Yousra Aoudi currently serves as Quantitative Analyst, VP at BNY, where she contributes to the iFlow product. A self-learner with a solid academic foundation in engineering and finance, she has successfully leveraged her skills in AI to excel in finance and different ventures. In addition to her corporate role, Yousra Aoudi actively contributes to the AI community, sharing her expertise through a platform where she publishes AI and quantitative research projects and articles. |
| Arthur Rabatin | Risk, Trading and Regulatory Technology Expert | Arthur Rabatin is an Expert in Capital Markets, with a Focus on Derivatives Trading and Portfolio Risk Management. He combines expertise is leading edge Technology trends with deep knowledge of capital market operations. He is a global speaker on topics of risk management and technology change, and has published as far back as 2000 a paper on using AI tools for optimising FX Trading strategies. Arthur has held Technology leadership roles at Barclays, Deutsche Bank and BNY Mellon, and most recently is Co-Founder of a StartUp that develops AI tools to simulate investment decisions by combining time series forecasting and portfolio risk strategies. Arthur read Economics at the University of Vienna and currently lives in New York. |
| Dmitry Novikov | Head Of Equity Research, Franklin Templeton | Dmitry Novikov serves as the principal researcher for systematic equity and sustainability initiatives at Franklin Templeton. His expertise encompasses multiple subjects of quantitative equity including traditional and alternative factor and style analysis, systematic strategy development, ESG and Sustainability. Before joining Franklin Templeton, Dr. Novikov led the factor research division at QS Investors, a firm specializing in quantitative multi-asset and equity management. There, he managed comprehensive research on various systematic equity approaches. His career also includes different research roles in quantitative investment strategy at Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs. Dr. Novikov holds an MS in Mathematics from Moscow State University, an MA in Economics from the New Economic School, and a PhD in Finance from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. |
| Ravi Sarkar | Enterprise CTO, Microsoft | Ravi Sarkar is the Enterprise CTO within Microsoft’s Financial Services unit. In this role, he leads the technology strategy and innovation, and oversees the architecture and engineering of business solutions across the cloud and AI product stack for the Capital Markets industry. With over two decades of expertise in software development, AI, and data-driven systems on cloud in finance, Ravi is a recognized fintech leader and influencer. He has defined new product categories, driven hypergrowth, and architected some of the most complex money transaction systems for tier one banks. Ravi is a recipient of the Microsoft Technology Solution Achievers award and a former winner of the IBM Champions Award for innovation and financial technology research. He is also included in the Rise Global FinTech Power 100 List. Ravi frequently speaks at industry events and conferences. He actively advises early-stage startups as well as the enterprise CIO/CTO peer community in NYC. Additionally, he is a contributor and speaker for the Green Software Foundation, working to reduce global carbon emissions associated with software. |