Equitable A.I. in Finance

In the last decade, the field of finance has evolved to incorporate A.I. into nearly every segment of this industry, be it consumer, retail, institutional, or otherwise. Questions around how this practice fails to address equity issues - or in some cases, intensifies them - continue to persist, forcing policymakers and industry leaders alike to wonder who can and should shape the future of this new technology.

On Tuesday, January 25, from 12-1 p.m. CT, join Chicago Booth’s Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence and the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation for a virtual panel event which will dissect this nuanced topic. Industry experts who work within the cutting edge of finance and machine learning will discuss how A.I. is impacting not just finance as an industry, but finance as a service, and what opportunities for improvement exist. They’ll examine questions such as:

• What does A.I. in finance mean?
• Is it realistic to expect A.I. to solve the problems of inequities? If so, which ones?
• What are the tangible ways in which A.I. can actually make a difference?

All members within and outside of the University community are welcome to join the event virtually. Panelists will address questions from attendees at the end of the event.

Speakers:

Ingrid Tierens, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

Ingrid heads the Data Strategy team in the Global Investment Research (GIR) division at Goldman Sachs. Her team contributes to clients’ investment processes through quantitative analysis and systematic solutions and collaborates with GIR research teams to embed alternative data sources in their research and to externalize research data insights.

Previously, Ingrid was head of the Equities Execution Services Strats Group in the Securities Division, which advises clients on execution strategies across one delta equities. Before that, she headed Electronic Trading Strats for Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing (GSEC) and the Sales Strats Group across Equity Derivatives and Global Securities Services.

Ingrid joined Goldman Sachs in 2002 as a vice president in the Equity Derivatives Strats Group, focusing on quantitative equity and option-based strategies, portfolio construction, and index-related analysis.

Ovetta Sampson, Capital One, Vice President Machine Learning Experience Design

As the Vice-President of Machine Learning Experience Design at Capital One, Ovetta, and her team are pioneering ways to make the responsible and ethical use of machine learning effortless for associates while creating a new muscle for designers - using machine learning and AI as a human-centered design tool. It’s an unprecedented and rare opportunity to change how we access, serve and help customers while improving and augmenting our associates design, data science, developer, and analyst experience.

Prior to Capital One, Ovetta was Principle Design Director at Microsoft, serving a team of designers, program managers, engineers, researchers, and technologists to help the nation's biggest companies actually visualize and realize a digital transformation that's built on a foundation of the hidden human truths of the world.

Ovetta has a background in journalism, psychology, history and anthropology, and, of course, equity and social justice and uses all of that experience in her design practice.

Anna Costello, Chicago Booth, Professor of Accounting

Anna Costello is a Professor of Accounting. Before joining Booth, she previously served as an Assistant Professor of Accounting at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and MIT Sloan School of Management. Costello received her Bachelors and Masters of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Chicago. Prior to earning her graduate degrees, Anna worked as a senior auditor for Deloitte.

Costello's research investigates the role of information sharing between supply chain partners. Specifically, her work shows that information asymmetry between buyers and suppliers impacts the terms and restrictions in long-term supply contracts. She also studies how trade credit between supply chain partners influences firm-specific and market-wide risk. Her research has been published in the Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Accounting Research, the Journal of Accounting and Economics, and The Accounting Review. Costello was awarded the Best Dissertation Award from the Financial Accounting and Reporting Section of the American Accounting Association. She received the 2014-2015 MBA Teacher of the Year Award from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Jay Budzik, Chief Technology Officer, Zest AI

Jay Budzik is the chief technology officer at Zest AI, a software company that helps banks and lenders build, run, and monitor fully explainable machine learning underwriting models. As CTO, Jay oversees Zest’s product and engineering teams. His passion for inventing new technologies—particularly in data mining and AI—has played a central role throughout his career. Before joining Zest, he held varied positions, including founding an AI enterprise search company, helping major media organizations apply AI and machine learning to expand their audiences and revenue, and developed systems that process tens of trillions of data points. Jay has a Ph.D. in computer science from Northwestern University.

Sam Taussig, Vice President of Product Development & Special Projects, American Express

Sam Taussig has worked in the alternative credit space since he experienced how microcredit offered enterprising Zambians a sustainable path to business ownership. He has promoted access to credit across four continents with non-governmental organizations, private enterprises, and the United Nations. Sam first engaged in small business policy while helping small business owners navigate regulatory requirements while with a CFDI in Bozeman, Montana. Before coming to Kabbage, Sam worked with the United Nations in Indonesia working on upstream policy development using “big data” in microlending and managing political affairs with bilateral diplomatic missions.

As part of Kabbage, an American Express Company, in Atlanta, North Carolina, and now Denver, Sam is responsible for inclusive product development, model fairness policy, special projects, and interactions with governments and community development organizations. He covers issues ranging from digital literacy to artificial intelligence, fair lending, privacy, economic development, diversity and inclusion, corporate social responsibility.

 

 

About the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence: At the Center for Applied AI, we incubate transformative projects that fundamentally shape how humans use AI to interact with each other and the world. Our innovative research investigates how AI can best be used to augment human decision-making and improve society. Learn more.

About the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation: The Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation is the destination at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business for people committed to helping solve complex social and environmental problems. As Chicago Booth’s social impact hub, the Rustandy Center offers hands-on learning opportunities, supports innovative courses, and pursues research—all with the goal of developing people and practices with the potential to solve the world’s biggest challenges. Learn more.