Military data contractor Palantir has paired up with TWG Group to create a joint venture that seeks to increase adoption of artificial intelligence in the financial space.
The joint venture combines Palantir's artificial intelligence and cybersecurity infrastructure with TWG's business technology experience to offer financial service organizations like banks, investment managers and insurance companies a product to expedite artificial intelligence adoption and integrate it at scale.
Palantir was founded by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, Stephen Cohen and Joe Lonsdale. It began as a defense contractor before expanding into the private sector. Because of that, the company has long prioritized security. Thiel was one of the
"By combining TWG's deep industry expertise with Palantir's world-leading software, we are empowering businesses to not just navigate today's complex global market, but to position themselves for dominance in it by remaining at the forefront of the AI revolution," said Karp, Palantir's CEO, in a statement.
Karp is heading Palantir's side of the collaboration. On the TWG side, the joint venture is being led by Mark Walter, CEO and co-chairman of TWG Global as well as CEO of Guggenheim Partners; Thomas Tull, co-chairman of TWG and head of the U.S. Innovative Technology Fund; as well as Drew Cukor, head of data and analytics at TWG.
The program, already deployed within TWG's portfolio which includes Guggenheim Investments and Guggenheim Securities, shortens AI adoption cycles for financial institutions. A large reason why is because of the size and experience of both companies, Cukor said.
H2O.ai, Ethos and Corridor Platforms are among the tech companies that have recently released software designed to help banks keep generative AI in check.
Cybersecurity concerns are a big holdup for many financial institutions looking to adopt AI, Cukor said. Cukor, the former head of Project Maven, the Pentagon's AI initiative, who later served as the former AI chief for JPMorgan Chase, has experience in military and enterprise AI deployments.
"My job as the chief data and analytics officer is to bring in responsible, safe, and secure data methods and approaches to data management as well as AI and analytics to every workflow and business stream in the business," Cukor said. "Think of everything from middle office to back office to front office. There's literally thousands of use cases that span all of these complex and unique businesses, and our intention is to get in there and put AI on everything, everything that people do to augment and reinforce and strengthen the productivity of our workforce."
Banks are frustrated with having to outsource to several fintech solutions in order to keep pace with competitors, Cukor said, noting that having multiple vendors also increases the potential for cybersecurity liabilities. The joint venture aims to alleviate that by providing one product that's fully embedded in the institution and utilized throughout departments in all core functions.
"You won't have to have 300 separate contracts with every AI vendor or new startup in the world that looks interesting to you," Cukor told American Banker, stressing the benefits of a centralized delivery method.
Additionally, Cukor said businesses need to rethink their approach to artificial intelligence in order to use it to its full potential. The first step is thinking about AI as a labor source, rather than a technology.
"This is not tech. This is a new model. This is data science and business merged together," Cukor said. "These AIs are doing increasingly more and more things that humans can do. I mean, let's face it, the purpose of an AI is to perceive reason and act. We designed AIs as humans to replicate the things that humans do, so we don't have to do them. That's the whole purpose of AI."
