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evolving alongside it, agentic AI has become a buzzword in recent years.
Allowing firms to deploy independent‘ agents’ or chatbots into operations or processes to solve problems, execute actions and make decisions on its own, this trend has quickly been picked up on by many across the industry.
Most notably, Bloomberg recently launched a conversational artificial intelligence interface for its Terminal – ASKB – designed to help traders and investment professionals analyse markets, generate insights and act on information more quickly.
Elsewhere, other firms such as Man Group, Broadridge and Clearwater Analytics have also jumped on this bandwagon, with many others understood to also be experimenting with these agentic workflows internally.
Emphasising the impact that agentic AI models have had on the industry in recent months, Tom Carey, president of Broadridge’ s global technology and operations business, tells The TRADE:“ What we didn ' t initially see across the industry were significant productivity gains at the enterprise level. Over the last six to nine months, however, the tools have improved dramatically. They ' ve evolved from standalone tools that individuals use into complete frameworks that organisations can operate within.
“ That ' s been a key shift. It ' s now possible to embed workflows, drive operational change, and transform how work gets done across the business. In that sense, AI has been genuinely revolutionary, and I think we ' ll see much more of that going forward.”
However, while AI can bring immense efficiency and opportunity to a firm’ s operations and trading desks, the age-old question arises – where do we draw the line between technology and human expertise?
Numerous conferences and industry events over the past few years have raised important questions such as: Can machines think? And, where does the growth of AI leave the role of the human and the trader?
Following recent conversations, including around the risks posed by Anthropic’ s latest model, Mythos and the potential challenges it may pose as it expands into firms and regions, now is perhaps a more apt time than ever to explore where AI truly creates value in capital markets, and how we can ensure it remains a force for innovation rather than an unforeseen source of risk.
Keeping one hand on the wheel As noted at many conferences and panels over the course of this year, discussions have often rooted back to the importance of ensuring AI-related
“ The front office is still heavily relationship-driven, and that interpersonal element remains a core part of how trading relationships are built and maintained.”
LUKE MAHON, HEAD OF TRADING, AZIMUT INVESTMENTS
responsibilities remain‘ deeply human’. Specifically, these conversations have emphasised that AI and trading technology cannot react to these events in the same way that a human trader can.
These discussions have, in some cases, been sparked from fears that AI will replace humans in the trading lifecycle, however for Carey, this could not be further from the truth.
He asserts:“ The human element, and the skills required to engineer, build, develop, maintain, and support systems and clients is not going away. The idea that AI will eliminate the need for people is, in my view, a misconception.”
Carey also highlighted that within trading, AI will allow for quicker innovation and deeper understanding of industry infrastructure and operations.
Within this, the importance of maintaining human
28 // TheTRADE // Q2 2026