We Look at Talent as a Long-term Investment — JPMorganChase Firmwide CDO

(US & Canada) Mark Birkhead, Firmwide Chief Data Officer at JPMorganChase, speaks with Sajid Khan, Partner/Principal, AI and Data Financial Services at EY, in a video interview about how JPMC retains talent, the data for good initiative, key factors behind running a successful data and AI function, governance processes, and impact of AI usage in the banking ecosystem.

JPMorganChase is one of the world's oldest and largest financial institutions known for managing assets and investments, offering business advice and strategies, and providing innovative banking solutions and services.

Stressing the need to attract the right talent, Birkhead states that, as a CDO, he helps ensure that the firm has the right pool of talent in all the required domains. He adds that talent is being sought in all organizational sectors, including AI/ML, data management, data strategy, data governance, and so forth.

Further, as an executive sponsor of talent programs for AI/ML at the firm, Birkhead affirms actively investing in multiple areas. He shares that the organization has been pursuing Ph.D. holders in Applied AI/ML and AI research from top universities globally.

Currently, Birkhead confirms having upwards of 2,000 AI/ML experts at the firm. In addition, over a hundred university partnerships are in place to ensure academic engagement, learn from research, and do things responsibly.

According to Birkhead, the firm’s efforts not only bring in experienced hires but also create a compelling opportunity for data scientists and AI researchers. He notes that they can utilize the massive data asset in the right ways and in an environment that has a lot of compute and abilities.

For people in early career stages, JPMorganChase organizes hackathons, says Birkhead, and that promotes engagements with university students, undergrads, and Ph.D. researchers. For the hackathons, the firm sponsors the flying costs of these students and brings them together with other teams, where they are asked to solve a problem for a non-profit.

While Birkhead agrees that the hackathons may not encourage everyone to be a part of the firm’s future, it is a way to give back to the field and create opportunities for students. Hackathons are also critical in the internship pipeline, he adds. JPMorganChase hosts annual summer internships that serve as a talent pipeline for its rotational programs. The company offers two distinct rotational programs spanning all lines of business and functions.

Starting this year, the firm has added “Data for Good” hackathons, internships, and rotational programs for the data management and data governance functions. The goal is to ensure the continuation of data modernization and AI readiness and have everything in place to build a future talent pipeline in this area.

Highlighting the importance of the Data for Good initiative, Birkhead states that the commitment is rooted in the firm's values and culture while being equally meaningful for employees who strive to create a positive impact. Through the initiative, the firm has partnered with over 40 nonprofits worldwide. JPMorganChase helps these organizations by providing expertise in technology and data. Teams of data scientists and tech partners are assembled to collaborate with each non-profit to design customized and sustainable solutions that can be used independently.

Furthermore, Birkhead shares that the firm looks at talent as a long-term investment. He says that the organization actively seeks talent from all backgrounds, as long as they have the drive to tackle challenges with the firm.

Moving forward, Birkhead states that successfully running an AI and data function is a result of many things coming together. Commenting on the organizational culture, he maintains that starting top-down, the firm’s culture allows everyone to be organized in the right way and scale.

Further, the Chief Data and Analytics Office is an independent function and led by the CDAO, who jointly reports to CEO Jamie Dimon and President and COO, Daniel Pinto, says Birkhead. He notes that this allows putting the data analytics platform technology under one umbrella and operating as a unit, which is critical to the operational and organizational pieces.

Emphasizing AI/ML, Birkhead mentions having an incredible AI research team that advances the thinking regarding machine learning and explainability, AI ethics, and safety. Eventually, the research ideas are used well commercially. For instance, he considers synthetic data to be extremely powerful, as it enables data scientists and modelers with rich, meaningful data sets for experimentation and development while reducing client information exposure.

Shedding light on the governance processes, Birkhead shares that the firm’s data governance lifecycle outlines every phase of data from creation to destruction and incorporates robust controls at each stage. He further mentions elements like data lineage, control mechanisms, reconciliations, and even data contracts in some cases, all of which integrate into the organization’s modeling environments.

Lastly, Birkhead reveals that JPMorganChase maintains a delineation in decision-making rights wherein local businesses are accountable for the risks they undertake compared to the central teams. This helps in the effective management of processes at scale.

Speaking of the impact of the modern-day use of AI on the bank’s culture, Birkhead says that the possibilities to increase the speed of attending to customers and clients are endless. He believes this could mean enhanced customer experiences, streamlined journeys, and protecting clients from fraud and bad actors, ensuring safety.

In conclusion, Birkhead states that the convergence of elements such as compute power, data, the understanding of data integration, expanding the field, and increasing CDO roles all hint towards immense possibilities. Also, he opines that while traditional AI and ML will remain intrinsic, the emerging use cases involving generative AI will drive positive change in financial services and beyond.

CDO Magazine appreciates Mark Birkhead for sharing his insights with our global community.