JP Morgan Chase has hired a top executive from Google to head up the banking giant’s artificial intelligence and machine-learning services, CNBC reports.
Apoorv Saxena, Google’s head of product management for cloud-based artificial intelligence, will join JP Morgan on Aug. 31, according to an internal memo obtained by CNBC. He will be based in Palo Alto, Calif.
CNBC notes that JP Morgan’s poaching of Saxena from Google comes amid a bigger arms race for AI talent that’s stretching from Silicon Valley to Wall Street.
Tech giants such as Google’s Alphabet and Facebook, Silicon Valley startups, and a swath of industrial and financial firms are all vying for a small group of proven AI experts who can help create an automated future. That means the market for specialists in the technology has never been hotter, resulting in compensation that reaches into the millions of dollars in some cases.
In a push to prevent fintech firms and established tech giants from luring their customers, banks are increasingly looking outside finance for managers in technologies from machine learning to blockchain. About one-third of J.P. Morgan’s recent senior hires are from outside the industry, according to the lender.
Saxena will also serve as head of asset and wealth management AI technology for JP Morgan.
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