Leaders Need To Bet On AI To Drive Value

BlackRock Inc., the $5 trillion money manager, announced last month that it would be overhauling its actively managed equities business, increasingly betting on computers rather than humans to make investment decisions. This move sent shudders through the financial services industry that has long relied on people to help others with their asset allocation decisions. For all industry observers, it is the next nail in the coffin of actively managed accounts, as technology disrupts the age old financial services business model. The question that corporate consultants must now ask is: "Are we next? What we value and how we value our businesses have remained relatively constant for hundreds of years.