RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Business Insider — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 1 sourcesMichael M. Santiago/Getty Images; Getty Images; BI
Banks are pouring billions into AI, reshaping jobs, culture, and power on Wall Street.
Leaders, some of whom are tracking AI use, have been pressed on how the spending is paying off.
Here's everything we know about how banks from JPMorgan to Wells Fargo are using AI.
Wall Street is betting big on, and pouring billions into, AI, as big banks jostle to remain ahead of the technological curve.
Generative AI is impacting everything from trading floors to back offices, workflows to workplace culture. It's changing what it means to be a software engineer, how junior bankers stand out , and even the roles inside the C-suite. The shift, it seems, is only just beginning.
Yet for all the proclaimed advancements, analysts continue to pepper executives with questions about returns and safety, as concerns mount across industries about whether the gargantuan spending on AI is justified. And though harnessing the technology is table stakes at this point — JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said his bank doesn't "uniquely benefit from AI" since everyone is now using it — gradations still exist between firms' strategies.
Here's what we know about how Wall Street's biggest banks are embracing AI.
JPMorgan Chase
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
The nation's biggest bank is putting a lot of effort toward making sure it's an early mover in AI, with the help of a nearly $20 billion annual technology budget. Dimon has previously said he's out to win the AI arms race, and he thinks JPMorgan's $2 billion AI investment has already matched its cost in savings. The firm is keeping close tabs on how its tens of thousands of engineers are using AI , Business Insider reported. One dashboard tracks how much developers use GitHub Copilot and classifies them into "light," "heavy," or "non" users. The bank has also updated objectives for its engineers, who are now expected to "drive excellence" by adopting AI, according to posts on the company intranet.
In July, the firm's AI chief, Teresa Heitsenrether, announced her retirement after four decades at the bank, reshuffling technology leadership . JPMorgan said at the time that it was restructuring its firmwide chief data and analytics office as it transitions from focusing on AI infrastructure to business initiatives. JPMorgan reorganized its commercial and investment bank in February to "maximize the impact of AI," according to an internal memo reviewed by Business Insider. Each major business in the division now reports to Guy Halamish, the newly named chief operating officer of the CIB.
Dimon said on a second-quarter earnings call that his bank already has almost 1,000 use cases , from fraud protection to marketing to note-taking. The bank has rolled out its proprietary genAI platform to more than 200,000 employees — seeking to reengineer workflows for everyone from coders to portfolio managers.
The bank's AI efforts are impacting those beyond its immediate workforce. JPMorgan Chase's asset management unit announced plans to discontinue a long-held practice of using external proxy advisors for shareholder voting in the US this year. In place of external human advisors, the firm is launching an in-house AI platform, called Proxy IQ , to support shareholder decisions.
Goldman Sachs
David Solomon Michael Kovac
Goldman put $6 billion behind its technology spend this year, but David Solomon, the bank's CEO, said in October he wished it were more. He would like to be at least $8 billion, but "I can't afford it because I've got to deliver returns."
Solomon encouraged this year's interns to experiment with AI tools "to enhance your teams' workflows" in his annual letter; the rest of the firm got a definitive statement about AI's impact in October, when a memo went out to employees announcing the third iteration of the cross-bank initiative, OneGS. The memo said the plan would leverage AI to drive efficiency at the firm, slow hiring, and result in a "limited reduction" of roles.
Goldman, like its peers, has been rolling out tools to all employees, including an internal AI assistant. Marco Argenti, the chief information officer, told Business Insider that he's more interested in measuring teams' velocity with AI tools than individual usage. The bank has been working with Anthropic to develop AI agents that can automate a number of internal functions, Marco told CNBC in February . The project focused on accounting for trades and transactions and on client onboarding, he said.
Citigroup
Citi's Jane Fraser NICHOLAS KAMM/Getty Images
Citi is trying to win the AI game on employee buy-in above all else. Tim Ryan , the firm's tech chief who oversees the bank's $12 billion tech budget, told Business Insider that he believes firms need a mix of "metrics and pride." Citi has taken a bottom-up approach to embedding AI throughout its lines of business, with 4,000 employees trained as AI stewards .
Nearly 90% of employees at Citi are using AI tools, CEO Jane Fraser said on the bank's 2026 earnings call. This year, the bank has unveiled an AI wealth advisor and begun to scale the use of agents.
Unlike some competitors, Citi does not measure employees' granular AI usage; instead, it measures "the big things" and encourages employees to use the lowest-cost model that meets their needs.
In June 2025, the bank doubled down on its AI ambitions , appointing new leadership to helm its tech transformation.
Wells Fargo
Charles Scharf, CEO of Wells Fargo Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Business Insider spoke to Saul Van Beurden, the bank's Head of AI, about how AI is fueling the bank's post-asset cap growth.
The firm uses a "hub and spoke" model for its AI architecture, with Van Beurden's small team as the central hub and each business line's generative AI lead as a spoke. AI agents, he said, are becoming central to some of the highest-impact use cases.
When Business Insider spoke to Van Beurden in March, the bank wasn't ma...
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.