Business
Here’s JPMorgan Chase’s blueprint to become the world’s first fully AI-powered megabank
Deep within the bowels of JPMorgan Chase’s data centers and cloud providers, an artificial intelligence program crucial to the bank’s aspirations grows more powerful by the week.
The program, called LLM Suite, is a portal created by the bank to harness large language models from the world’s leading AI startups. It currently uses models from OpenAI and Anthropic.
Every eight weeks, LLM Suite is updated as the bank feeds it more from the vast databases and software applications of its major businesses, giving the platform more abilities, Derek Waldron, JPMorgan chief data analytics officer, told CNBC in an exclusive interview.
“The broad vision that we’re working towards is one where the JPMorgan Chase of the future is going to be a fully AI-connected enterprise,” Waldron said.
JPMorgan, the world’s largest bank by market capitalization, is being “fundamentally rewired” for the coming AI era, according to Waldron. The bank, a heavyweight across Main Street and Wall Street finance, wants to provide every employee with AI agents, automate every behind-the-scenes process and have every client experience curated with AI concierges.
If the effort succeeds, the project could have profound implications for the bank’s employees, customers and shareholders — even the nature of corporate labor itself.
Waldron, who gave CNBC the first demonstration of its AI platform seen by any outsider, showed the program creating an investment banking deck in about 30 seconds, work that would’ve previously taken a team of junior bankers hours to complete.
Out of the box
Since the arrival of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, optimism over generative AI has driven markets higher on gains from the tech giants and chip makers closest to the trade. Underpinning their growth is the expectation that corporate clients deploying AI will either boost worker productivity or lower expenses through layoffs — or both.
But similar to how the internet story played out in the 1990s, near-term expectations for AI may have outstripped reality. Most corporations had no tangible returns yet on their AI projects despite more than $30 billion in collective investments, according to an MIT report from July.
Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. speaks during an event honoring local construction workers who helped build the firm’s new headquarters at 270 Park Avenue, in the Midtown area of New York City, U.S., Sept. 9, 2025.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
In the case of JPMorgan, even with it $18 billion annual tech budget, it will take years for the company to realize AI’s potential by stitching the cognitive power of AI models together with the bank’s proprietary data and software programs, said Waldron.
“There is a value gap between what the technology is capable of and the ability to fully capture that within an enterprise,” Waldron said.
Companies “do work in thousands of different applications, there’s a lot of work to connect those applications into an AI ecosystem and make them consumable,” he said.
If JPMorgan can beat other banks to the punch on incorporating AI, it will enjoy a period of higher margins before the rest of the industry catches up. That first-mover advantage will allow it to grow revenues faster by going after a larger slice of the addressable market in global finance — enabling the bank to pitch more middle-market companies in investment banking, for instance.
Change on the horizon
AI was a major topic at a four-day executive retreat held in July by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, according to a person who attended but declined to be identified speaking about the private event.
Among concerns discussed at the off-site meeting, held at a resort outside Nashville, was how AI-driven changes will be adopted by the bank’s 317,000-person workforce and its possible impacts to the apprenticeship model on areas including investment banking.
If JPMorgan succeeds with its AI goals, it will mean that a bank that is already the largest and most profitable in American history is set for new heights. Dimon has led the bank since 2005, guiding it through periods of upheaval to notch record profits in 7 of the last 10 years.
The end state for JPMorgan, as envisioned by Waldron, is a future in which AI is woven into the fabric of the company:
“Every employee will have their own personalized AI assistant; every process is powered by AI agents, and every client experience has an AI concierge,” he said.
JPMorgan laid the groundwork for this starting in 2023, when it gave employees access to OpenAI’s models through LLM Suite; it was essentially a corporate ChatGPT tool used to draft emails and summarize documents.
About 250,000 JPMorgan employees have access to the platform today, which is the entire workforce except for branch and call center staff, said Waldron. Half of them use it roughly every day, he said.
JPMorgan is now early in the next phase of its AI blueprint: It has begun deploying agentic AI to handle complex multistep tasks for employees, according to an internal roadmap provided by the bank.
“As those agents become increasingly powerful in terms of their AI capabilities and increasingly connected into JPMorgan,” Waldron said, “they can take on more and more responsibilities.”
Nvidia deck
Waldron, a former McKinsey partner with a Ph.D. in computational physics, recently demonstrated LLM Suite’s capabilities to CNBC.
He gave the program a prompt: “You are a technology banker at JPMorgan Chase preparing for a meeting with the CEO and CFO of Nvidia. Prepare a five-page presentation that includes the latest news, earnings and a peer comparison.”
LLM Suite created a credible-looking PowerPoint deck in about 30 seconds.
“You can imagine in the past how that would have been done; we would’ve had teams of investment banking analysts working long hours at night to do this,” said Waldron.
The bank is also training AI to draft other key investment banking documents including the “inch thick” confidential memos that JPMorgan produces for prospective M&A clients, said the person who attended the July executive meeting.
Derek Waldron, JPMorgan’s chief analytics officer.
Courtesy: JP Morgan
The prospect of collapsing work loads means that fewer junior bankers may be needed even while AI-enabled teams handle more work and pitch more companies, according to senior Wall Street executives at several firms who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide their candid thoughts.
But to extract the full value from this new, almost magical technology, it’s not just about the tools: Changes to how employees and departments are organized may be needed.
One proposal being discussed at a major investment bank is reducing the ratio of junior bankers to senior managers from the current 6-1 to 4-1. In the new regime, half of those junior bankers would be working from cities with cheaper labor, say Bengaluru, India, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, instead of being clustered in expensive New York.
The AI-powered junior bankers could then work on deals in shifts around-the-clock, passing the baton from one time zone to the next.
With fewer bankers on the payroll, the cost structure of investment banking would fall, boosting the bottom line, said the executives.
Structural shifts
Unlike previous generations of technology, where bespoke automation tools had to be made for every distinct job, LLM Suite can service them all, from traders to wealth managers and risk officers, according to Waldron.
The implications for workers are profound. AI will empower some workers and give them more time, positioning them at the center of a team of AI agents. Others will be displaced by AI that takes over processes which no longer require human intervention.
That shift favors those who work directly with clients — a private banker with a roster of rich investors, traders who cater to hedge fund and pension managers, or investment bankers with relationships with Fortune 500 CEOs, for instance.
Those at risk of having to find new roles include operations and support staff who mainly deal in rote processes like setting up accounts, fraud detection or settling trades.
In May, JPMorgan’s consumer banking chief told investors that operations staff would fall by at least 10% in the next five years thanks to AI deployment.
“In an AI world, you’ll still have people at the top who are managing and have relationships with clients, but many, many of the processes underneath are now being done by AI systems,” Waldron said.
AI FOMO
But it’s still unwritten as to how that future will unfold; will corporations retain workers impacted by AI, retraining them for the new roles it creates? Or will they simply opt to cut their payroll?
“Without a doubt, AI technology will have changes on the construction of the workforce,” Waldron said. “That is certain, but I think it’s unclear as to exactly what those changes will look like.”
More broadly, Waldron said that workers would shift from being creators of reports or software updates, or “makers” in his terminology, to “checkers” or managers of AI agents doing that work.
The bank is closing in on another frontier: It will soon allow generative AI to interact directly with customers, Waldron said. JPMorgan will start with limited cases, like allowing it to extract information for a user, before rolling out more advanced versions, he said.
Despite market concerns that the AI trade is a brewing bubble, corporate clients are actually more worried now that if they don’t start adopting it soon, they’ll fall behind and lose share, said Avi Gesser, a Debevoise & Plimpton partner who advises corporations on issues around AI.
“People are starting to see what these tools can do,” Gesser said. “They’re sort of like, ‘Wow, if you get the workflow right, implement it properly and have the right guardrails, I could see how that would save you a lot of time and a lot of money and deliver a better product.”
Inflation fell to 3.6 per cent in October, in a pre-Budget boost to Rachel Reeves – as well as to consumers and businesses.
The latest update from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation dropping from September, when it surprisingly held at 3.8 per cent. That has led to most analysts to declare inflation has peaked across the UK.
It is the first time the rate of inflation has been at this level since June of this year – though just three months prior to that, in March it was as low as 2.6 per cent.
Some economists were expecting CPI to fall to as low as 3.5 per cent last month, and while that has not quite transpired, the downturn in price growth will be cause for relief for households and firms which have had to deal with constant price pressures and uncertainty this year.
The anticipated fall was “primarily based off last year’s big increase in energy prices dropping out of the annual comparison”, explained RSM UK’s chief economist Thomas Pugh, as well as continued slowdown in food price inflation.
It comes just a week before the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, presents the Budget in which it is expected a raft of tax increases will be unveiled.
On the falling figures, Ms Reeves said: “This fall in inflation is good news for households and businesses across the country, but I’m determined to do more to bring prices down. That’s why at the budget next week I will take the fair choices to deliver on the public’s priorities to cut NHS waiting lists, cut national debt and cut the cost of living.”
In disagreement, Sir Mel Stride MP, shadow chancellor of the exchequer, said: “Inflation has been above target every single month since Labour’s last Budget, leaving working people worse off. Labour’s last Budget hiked borrowing and taxes, stoking the inflation now hitting families. If Labour had any backbone, they would adopt our £47 billion savings plan and our Golden Economic Rule next week to ease inflationary pressures.”
Daisy Cooper, deputy leader for the Liberal Democrats added: “As the cost-of-living crisis rages on, the Chancellor mustn’t look this small gift horse in the mouth. Hitting people with a stealth tax at next week’s Budget would prolong the pain of higher taxes for much longer and unfairly pull poorer pensioners and low-income workers into paying tax for the first time.
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“We Liberal Democrats are calling for emergency measures to slash people’s energy bills, save our high streets with a VAT cut for hospitality and boost growth in every corner of the UK – funded fairly by taxing the banks. The Chancellor must put households and high streets first and put an end to the most vulnerable from having to choose between heating and eating.”
The ONS have said that housing and household services made “the largest downward contribution” to the changing rate of CPI; while food and non-alcoholic beverages made the largest offsetting upward contribution.
Costs from health, communication and transport also dropped to contribute towards lowered inflation rates, while education and recreation and culture costs rose.
The continuing disinflation – plus recent data around rising joblessness – is likely to mean the Bank of England cut interest rates in December.
George Brown, senior economist at Schroders, said the situation beyond that remains cloudy and will depend very much on Rachel Reeves’ Budget. “Evidence inflation has peaked should tip the scales towards a December rate cut. But any further rate cuts will largely depend on the contents of the Chancellor’s red box. If VAT and green levies are eliminated from household energy bills, inflation could fall by as much as half a percentage point,” he said.
“But we remain concerned that broader price pressures will prove persistent. Wage growth is still well above a target-consistent pace, especially given repeatedly weak productivity.”
Lindsay James, strategist at Quilter, added that risks to the wider economy remain. “Although the direction of travel is improving, the wider economic backdrop remains fragile. Growth has been subdued all year, and the labour market is now cooling at a faster pace. The economy is clearly at a point of significant risk as we move towards 2026,” she said.
“Amidst rising unemployment , ill thought-out plans to target the tax relief on offer from salary sacrifice pensions not only store up greater problems for the future but also make workers even more expensive for companies who have already been hit hard by hikes to National Insurance and the minimum wage.”
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) also added that they expected two further rate cuts from the Bank of England next year, after inflation had “reached its peak”. “Unlike the announcements in the autumn 2024 budget, where a rise in business costs may have contributed to price increases in 2025, we think the upcoming budget is less likely to be inflationary,” added the NIESR in a statement.
“Falling inflation is welcome news and provides some relief for households heading into the winter months,” said Raisin UK’s co-founder Kevin Mountford. “While borrowing costs remain high, stabilising price pressures may pave the way for lower interest rates in the future, which could make mortgages and loans more affordable over time.”
Consumers were reminded that falling inflation, while a positive, wouldn’t be of help if they over-stretched themselves across the upcoming period – particularly with rates on borrowing still higher.
“No matter how healthy your finances, Christmas is an expensive time, so, while it’s good news that inflation is falling, many households will be spending more in the coming weeks on festive gifts, food and going out. The Black Friday sales can be very tempting, but – no matter how big the discount, it’s not a bargain if you have to take on unaffordable debt to buy it,” said Sarah Pennells, consumer finance specialist at Royal London.
Those with cash sat in accounts earning interest below the rate of inflation were urged to move their money elsewhere by Derek Sprawling, head of money at Spring.
“A fall in inflation offers some relief, but I urge savers not to become complacent. Even with a lower rate, billions remain in accounts paying below inflation, which remains relatively high. Savers should take this opportunity to review their savings options and switch to accounts that deliver returns above inflation, ensuring their money continues to grow in real terms,” he explained.
“Furthermore, with the Budget due, the outlook for interest rates is volatile regardless of the inflation rate. Moving your rainy-day savings to an account that gives a better return without restricting access provides better returns now and flexibility in the future.”
“There remains a significant gap between the best and worst rates available, so ensuring you’re regularly reviewing your interest rate and switching where possible is key,” added Shawbrook Bank’s Sally Conway.
The Target bullseye logo is seen on the outside of its store at the Lycoming Crossing Shopping Center.
Paul Weaver | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Target will report earnings on Wednesday morning as the big-box retailer gears up for the holiday season, gets ready for a new CEO and tries to snap a sales slump.
Here’s what Wall Street expects for the Minneapolis-based retailer’s fiscal third quarter, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $1.72 expected
- Revenue: $25.32 billion expected
Target’s sales have been roughly stagnant for four years as it faces stiffer competition and has grown weaker in some of the areas that set it apart in the past, including its eye-catching merchandise, its well-organized stores, and its friendly and helpful customer service. Some customers also boycotted the retailer after it rolled back key diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a dynamic that Target blamed in part in May for its weaker sales results.
Target expects sales to decline again this year by a low single-digit percentage. It said adjusted earnings per share for the year, excluding gains from litigation settlements, will range from about $7 to $9. Most of that range would come in lower than last year, when adjusted earnings per share were $8.86.
Target announced in August that Michael Fiddelke, the company’s chief operating officer and former chief financial officer, would become its next CEO. He will succeed longtime Chief Executive Brian Cornell in February.
On an earnings call in August, the day of Target’s CEO announcement, Fiddelke laid out his three top priorities: reestablishing Target’s reputation as a retailer with stylish and unique items, providing a more consistent customer experience, and using technology more effectively to operate an efficient business.
He said he wouldn’t wait until stepping into the role to make changes.
Last month, Target announced it would cut 1,800 corporate jobs — its largest layoff in a decade. It’s made moves to sharpen its merchandise and get back its fashion sense, including sending its designers to rodeos and ski lodges for inspiration. And it’s tweaked its online fulfillment strategy at stores to try to free up employees’ time to stock shelves and assist customers.
It also rolled out a policy change that shoppers may notice during the holiday season, which it dubbed the 10-4 program. When store employees are within 10 feet of a customer, Target has asked them to smile and show friendly and welcoming body language, such as waving and making eye contact. When a customer is within 4 feet, Target is asking store employees to initiate a conversation by personally greeting the shopper along with smiling.
Target isn’t the only big-box retailer getting a new CEO. Its rival Walmart announced last week that John Furner, the chief executive of its U.S. business, will succeed longtime CEO Doug McMillon. He will start the role on Feb. 1, the same day Fiddelke takes over at Target.
Business
PM Kisan 21st Installment Live Updates: PM Modi To Release Rs 18,000 Crore To Nearly 9 Crore Farmers
PM Kisan 21st Installment Live Updates: The wait for the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi’s 21st installment is now going to be over today, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to release the next tranche of Rs 2,000 shortly at an event in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
“The prime minister will release the 21st installment of PM-KISAN on November 19, 2025, in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu,” according to PM Kisan’s portal.
As per the government data, Rs 18,000 crore will be transferred to nearly 9 crore farmers nationwide. Combined with state schemes, many farmers are receiving additional income buffers ahead of the agri season.
“This instalment comes at a crucial moment: rising input costs, mandi price volatility, and liquidity gaps continue to challenge small and marginal farmers. A deeper lens on how direct benefit transfers are influencing farm decisions, post-harvest management, storage choices, and credit dependency could make for a compelling industry story,” said Amith Agarwal, co-founder and CEO of StarAgri Warehousing & Collateral Management.
PM Kisan: How To Check Beneficiary Status?
1. Visit the official PM Kisan portal: https://pmkisan.gov.in
2. On the homepage, under the ‘FARMERS CORNER’, click on ‘Beneficiary List’.
3. Enter your state, district, sub-district, block, and village.
4. Click ‘Get Report’ to view the list of beneficiaries in your village.
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