AI could turn fresh finance hires into managers from day one: Goldman Sachs

As artificial intelligence advances, young finance professionals may no longer have to spend years waiting for their first management role.With AI taking on more work, new hires could find themselves managing AI agents from the start of their careers, according to Goldman Sachs executive Kevin Sneader.Sneader, who leads Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s business in Asia Pacific outside Japan, said that the shift could also raise questions about the future role of middle managers, who have traditionally taken on management responsibilities after years of experience.What will young hires do“When our young folks now start work, they’re managing agents,” Sneader said on Thursday at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore. “They have to make the most of this virtual army that they’ve now got.”Bloomberg Previous generations often spent years in their jobs before getting the opportunity to manage anyone. But as AI changes the way work is done, management responsibilities could move closer to the front line.“That management task no longer sits with the middle manager; it sits with the front line,” Sneader said. “We don’t quite know what’s going to happen to that group.”Sneader said re-deploying existing managers would be the “generational challenge for many, many segments”.The comments point to a possible change in the traditional banking career path, where junior employees spend years working on analysis and preparatory tasks before moving into management roles.Rather than focusing on mass job losses from AI, Sneader and other panellists discussing AI and finance focused on how jobs and responsibilities could be reshaped.Traditional career ladder may changeSandra Peterson, an operating partner at investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, said the traditional career ladder in professional services may not survive in the same form.“It used to be that professional service firms were pyramids,” she said. “You’d show up, and you know, you march your way through, and if you survived, you got to the next level, the next level, the next level.”With AI doing much of the grunt work, Peterson said it was unclear whether firms would need as many entry-level positions.Banks may need fewer fresh graduatesSingapore’s financial regulator is also seeing changes in how jobs could be organised. Chia Der Jiun, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said operations staff would need to become managers and supervisors of AI agents.Banks would also need fewer fresh graduates for analysis and preparatory work, he said.Singapore has been preparing for these changes by training bank staff in AI skills and working with universities to ensure its graduates are ready for the new world, Chia said.For young people, Sneader said the opportunities could extend beyond finding a job in finance.“There’s never been a better time to be an entrepreneur to create something,” he said, noting that fewer resources are needed to start a business nowadays.“That’s quite an exciting part of the future when we’re all spending too much time, perhaps worrying about the old world.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.