AI & Business Blog Series Part 3: Professor Serkan Akguc
Professor Serkan Akguc concludes the AI & Business Blog Series by elaborating on the AI+Finance Certificate that CMU-Q offers, explaining the benefits to students of learning about AI as it becomes critical to industries around the world.
The AI+Finance certificate at the CMU-Q Business Administration Department leverages the university’s unique strengths in both computer science and business. As financial institutions and corporations increasingly depend on AI to analyze vast datasets, manage risk, and uncover new opportunities, the intersection of artificial intelligence and finance has become critical. This certificate program empowers students to harness the full potential of AI, machine learning, data science, and programming to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and innovation in financial applications. By the end of the program, students are well-equipped to apply advanced technological tools to finance, positioning them for success in a tech-driven financial landscape.
AI has significantly boosted efficiency in the finance industry. Financial institutions and companies now rely on AI to handle time-consuming tasks, such as extracting and analyzing vast amounts of news from traditional and social media to gauge market sentiment and analyzing consumer data to predict credit risk. It also processes various company documents, including earnings calls, investor presentations, and quarterly and annual reports, to provide insights that would be challenging to gather manually.
AI plays a critical role in identifying fraudulent financial transactions and detecting accounting irregularities in financial statements. Additionally, AI-driven algorithms generate trading signals, assisting with investment decisions and portfolio management. In all these areas, AI enhances speed, accuracy, and reliability, allowing finance professionals to focus on strategic and complex decision-making.
The role of AI in finance is set to expand significantly in the future. We can anticipate AI becoming even more accurate in predicting market trends and increasingly assisting in investment management with minimal human intervention. As AI technology advances, it is likely to transform financial advisory services, optimize trading strategies, and strengthen risk management practices. In a world where AI plays a central role, it will be essential to implement safeguards to ensure privacy, transparency, and ethical standards are upheld.
Professor Akguc‘s research interests include empirical corporate finance, ownership structure of firms, private equity, and start-up valuation.