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Generative artificial intelligence represents “probably the single largest shift in how we interact with data, information, and each other since the advent of the very earliest Internet.”
That was how Dr. Matt Wood, VP for AI Products at Amazon Web Services, kicked off his keynote speech at the AWS Summit New York on July 10.
The event’s 90-minute keynote covered the latest launches and technical innovations from AWS, as well as how gen AI, developer tools, and foundational infrastructure are coming together to drive technological trends and “change what’s possible.”
Also presenting during the keynote were senior executives from AWS customers and partners including Nasdaq, Bayer Crop Science, and AI safety and security company Anthropic.
Brad Peterson, Chief Technology and Chief Information Officer at Nasdaq, outlined the exchange group’s journey with cloud, AI and working with AWS, all with a view toward its vision of “becoming the trusted fabric of the financial system.”
“Cloud is at the epicenter of innovation, and AI has the potential to power a new generation of growth,” Peterson said.
Nasdaq launched data analysis tool Market Replay using AWS cloud computing services back in 2008, and from there “the light bulb was on” regarding the potential of the technology, Peterson said.
Between 2009 and 2021, Nasdaq migrated certain data distribution, revenue management, regulatory reporting, and market operations functions to the cloud.
Peterson said at that time the big question was “could we move a market to the cloud?” Nasdaq forged ahead on that, working with AWS to migrate its MRX options exchange to the cloud in 2022, followed by Nasdaq Bond Exchange and GEMX options exchange in 2023. The cloud-enabled market infrastructure has provided a 10% performance improvement for market participants.
Peterson said Nasdaq considers cloud and AI applications in two broad ways: in products that help customers, and within the Nasdaq business to capture efficiencies and drive innovation internally.
The CTO cited an AI-powered Nasdaq surveillance product that can reduced time needed investigate potential market abuse by 33%; Dynamic Midpoint Extended Life Order (M-ELO), the first exchange AI-powered order type to improve fill rates for equity trade orders; and Nasdaq Verafin’s Entity Research Copilot.
Products are about “where can you introduce things you couldn’t do before, or improve operations for your customers,” Peterson said.
With Nasdaq’s business, “every part of our company can be improved by gen AI,” Peterson said, adding that there is an ongoing effort to develop and deploy tools to make this happen.
Wood noted that perhaps counterintuitively, AWS is seeing customers in more-regulated industries, including financial services, move faster than average in deploying gen AI. He said this is because such companies have had to meet extensive regulatory compliance demands and meeting those demands had driven all the right behaviors, including having a robust data strategy, a good understanding of data quality, and strong data governance, to use generative AI.
Peterson concluded his remarks at the AWS Summit New York with a bullish tone regarding the future of Gen AI.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime accelerator for business,” he said. “Whether you’re working in product areas, a business function, or both, I encourage you to find way to improve your company with this incredible capability.”
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