The Bid Summer Series: “Best Of: Gen AI Through A COO Lens”
Episode Description:
Over the summer, The Bid brings back some of the best episodes from this year. Kicking off the series, hosts Oscar and Stevie take a look back on GenAI Through A COO Lens.
Rob Goldstein, Chief Operating Officer of BlackRock, and Lance Braunstein, Head of Aladdin Engineering, share their optimistic perspectives on Gen AI and the evolution of technology over the past year. They discuss how AI is reshaping work patterns, empowering individuals through natural language interfaces, and revolutionizing client expectations. With a focus on talent development and the democratization of data, they envision a future where AI augments human capabilities, making organizations more efficient and individuals more adaptable.
Original episode aired: February 9th, 2024.
Written Disclosures in Episode Description:
This content is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or a solicitation. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the listener.
For full disclosures go to Blackrock.com/corporate/compliance/bid-disclosures
TRANSCRIPT:
<<THEME MUSIC>>
Oscar Pulido: Welcome to The Bid. where we break down what's happening in the markets and explore the forces changing the economy and finance. I'm Oscar Polito. Today I'm pleased to welcome a co-host, Stevie Mans, the bids producer.
Welcome, Stevie.
Stevie Manns: Thank you, Oscar. It's nice to be in front of the mic for a change…
Oscar Pulido: and it's nice to have you back on the podcast. one of the times that we had you on was last summer when we did our Best of summer series, and we're bringing that back again this summer. This is an opportunity for us to highlight some of the episodes over the past year that we found really interesting.
And so I'm going to give you the honor of kicking us off with, your episode that first comes to mind as best of this year.
Stevie Manns: Thanks. Oscar. So my first pick is Gen AI through a COO lens with Rob Goldstein and Lance Bronstein, I love this episode and I've really become a bit of an AI nerd over the last year and change. I'm absolutely fascinated by it, as well as being, I think, the right amount of terrified by it too. It just feels like I'm watching a thriller movie. I'm excited, I'm on my toes wondering where it's going to go next. And what I loved about this episode was Rob's framing it as the biggest thing since the Industrial Revolution. And for me that really put it into perspective of what we are witnessing and that this is such a poignant moment in history. But Oscar, you were part of the conversation. I'd love to know what you thought of it.
Oscar Pulido: Yeah. I guess picking up on what you said, Rob has been associated with BlackRock for a long time. He's been associated with the technology industry for a long time, as has Lance, and they both were very excited about where AI is right now and the potential for it to, I. Bring productivity gains and these aren't just productivity gains that somebody out of college is benefiting from if they're working at a company like BlackRock.
This is Rob and Lance actually giving examples of how they've used it to draft up memos for board meetings, and there was the interesting story that they talk about of how they shared a first draft of this memo with some pretty discerning editors in. Both Larry Fink and Martin Small, who are the CEO and CFO respectively at BlackRock. And Larry and Martin actually not realizing that it was an AI written memo, that first draft. So to me that was like, wow, these guys are actually using it themselves. and these are folks who really know the tech industry. So that really caught my attention.
Stevie Manns: I couldn't agree more. Shall we take a listen again?
Oscar Pulido: Let's do it.
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Stevie Manns: So that was, your conversation with Rob and Lance, Oscar. Listening back, do you have any other takeaways?
Oscar Pulido: I guess my takeaway is that even in my own day-to-Day, I'm still learning how to benefit from ai. I'm starting to use it in some of my, day-to-day, but I still feel like I'm not quite fully there in terms of understanding all of the power that it could bring to efficiency and productivity, even for me. And I have to think I'm not the only person who feels that way.
Stevie Manns: I, totally agree with you on that. I'm thoroughly enjoying how it's making my day more productive, where it's giving me time back. but one of Rob's comments that I thought was really interesting was that these AI prompter jobs that we're seeing pop up right now.
They're a bit of a fad. They probably won't be around because people are learning. And once people learn, then those prompter jobs will be irrelevant.
Oscar Pulido: Speaking about how it affects the workforce. Like even Lance who oversees an army of engineers at BlackRock talks about how the development of AI isn't about needing fewer engineers. It's just about what skillset they need to possess in order to use the tool more effectively. So Stevie, this is the part where, I usually record the outro of the episode, but I'm going to give you the honor this time.
Stevie Manns: Well, thank you Oscar. next up on The Bid, we're highlighting a new short form series from the BlackRock Investment Institute Called Market Take on Mondays in August here on The Bid, and you can find that in its own feed by searching for Market Take. And then it's Oscar's turn to pick his favorite Bid episode as we continue our best of summer series. Thank you so much for listening to The Bid. I'm Stevie Manns.
Oscar Pulido: And I'm Oscar Pulido.
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<<SPOKEN DISCLOSURES>>
This content is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or a solicitation. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the listener.
For full disclosures go to Blackrock.com/corporate/compliance/bid-disclosure
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