With the impact artificial intelligence is having on financial institutions, markets, and decision making in business evolving every day, it’s imperative for organizations to understand how to effectively implement AI tools and technology. To support this goal, Emory University’s Goizueta Business School brought researchers, students, and industry leaders together to launch the Center for AI in Finance in the fall of 2025. Now, they have laid out plans to expand opportunities through the new center.
Tucker Balch, director of the Center, is professor in the practice and research of finance at Emory Goizueta and former managing director at J.P. Morgan. In the school’s press release, Balch says, “There’s enormous momentum around AI in finance, and we’re just getting started. We see an opportunity for Goizueta to be a place where rigorous research, education, and real-world application come together.”
The Center has three priorities.
Through funding faculty- and student-led AI and finance research, Goizueta intends to advance “actionable insights for financial markets and institutions.” The list of published work includes AI agent design, human accountability and AI bias, applications for LLMs in advertising, incorporating agentic AI into brands, and much more. Currently funded research is looking at how decision-focused machine learning can allocate resources, correcting market response bias from AI-generated observations, and using AI in investing.
Programming and events are designed to connect academic and industry leaders to bridge the gap between research and practitioners. The Center hosts a seminar series featuring speaker presentations from finance and academia, awards Goizueta faculty and PhD students for research and educational initiatives, and as of this year, offers travel grants to faculty for international travel to present AI-related research.
Developing AI-savvy finance talent is the third piece. Goizueta’s faculty are at the forefront of the evolution of AI in finance, and advisors to the Center for AI in Finance include experts in AI, finance, machine learning, and emerging technologies from JP Morgan Chase, U.S. Bank, and Blackrock. Through courses, fellowships, and hands-on experiences with the center’s team, Goizueta aims to prepare its graduates for leadership with the skills to apply AI in finance.
With the public launch of the center this month, Goizueta announced plans for student fellowships, new courses, and support for student organizations focused on AI in finance in the coming year. A flagship annual conference is also in the works for the spring of 2027 to be a “convening point” for researchers, students, business leaders, and policymakers. Building on the six research grants and one educational grant awarded in the first year, Goizueta also expects to increase its investment in AI-related research.
“Our first year was about building the foundation – bringing the right people together, supporting promising research and creating opportunities for meaningful dialogue between academia and industry,” Balch says. “Now we’re ready to broaden that community and share more of what we’re building with the world.”
