SKN | Morgan Stanley Advances AI Strategy With OpenAI Tool for Investment Banking

Key Takeaways:

• Morgan Stanley co-developed a financial-services version of ChatGPT with OpenAI to automate research and pitch-book tasks traditionally handled by junior investment bankers.
• The initiative comes as Morgan Stanley’s investment banking revenue reached $2.44 billion in the second quarter, representing 58% year-over-year growth.
• The bank’s strategy is centered on productivity and scalability, allowing senior bankers to process more information and potentially serve more clients.
• Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick has identified AI as one of the defining themes of 2026, with the bank expecting further efficiency gains from the technology.

Morgan Stanley is moving artificial intelligence deeper into its investment banking operations, co-developing a financial-services version of ChatGPT with OpenAI and Evercore. The initiative targets research, document analysis and pitch-book preparation, placing automation directly into some of the most time-intensive processes within the bank’s advisory business.

Morgan Stanley Targets the Analyst Workflow

The tool is designed to perform work traditionally associated with junior investment banking analysts, including researching information, preparing supporting materials and assembling client presentations. OpenAI’s Nik Turley described the objective as teaching ChatGPT to research and substantiate conclusions in a manner similar to an analyst.

For Morgan Stanley, the significance is operational rather than simply technological. Investment banking relies heavily on highly trained professionals performing repetitive research and documentation tasks under demanding time constraints. Automating standardized portions of that workflow could allow bankers to redirect more time toward client relationships, transaction strategy and higher-value analytical work.

Strong Banking Activity Creates a Natural Test Case

Morgan Stanley is introducing the technology while its investment banking franchise is already experiencing strong activity. Investment banking revenue reached $2.44 billion in the second quarter, up 58% from a year earlier, while advisory revenue reached $798 million.

That operating backdrop makes productivity particularly relevant. When deal activity is strong, the constraint is not necessarily demand for advisory services but the capacity of bankers to manage additional mandates without proportionally increasing the amount of labor required for each engagement.

Morgan Stanley therefore has a clear incentive to use AI to increase the amount of client work its existing platform can support. The objective is less about replacing the investment banking franchise and more about changing how that franchise scales.

Ted Pick Signals AI Is Becoming Core Infrastructure

Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick has described AI as one of two defining themes for the bank in 2026, emphasizing that its potential to improve efficiency and productivity is only beginning to emerge. The OpenAI collaboration provides a practical expression of that strategy inside investment banking.

The longer-term question is how much of those productivity gains Morgan Stanley can retain. If AI enables bankers to handle more mandates, the technology could expand capacity and improve operating leverage. However, greater efficiency across the industry could also increase competitive pressure on advisory pricing.

For sophisticated wealth holders, the important signal is therefore Morgan Stanley’s commitment to embedding AI into its core banking infrastructure. The bank is not treating artificial intelligence solely as an emerging technology theme; it is positioning it as an operational tool capable of reshaping how global financial services are delivered.

For a confidential discussion regarding your international banking relationships, institutional access or broader cross-border wealth strategy, contact our senior advisory team.