AI for finance - what's actually worth using and paying for?
Curious what everyone's setup looks like.
At my shop we have Rogo and Copilot. Rogo demos like a dream and delivers like an intern on day one. Copilot has embedded itself into every corner of Office like a virus and yet every time you click it the answer makes you wish you hadn't. ChatGPT and Claude are miles better but compliance.
From my personal account I've tried different stuff. There are actually some decent options out there. Curious what people think. Things I've been testing for:
- Actual financial calculations
- Source docs without hallucinating the footnotes
- Real workflows vs fancy chatbot
What's actually saving people time?
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here's what you need to know about AI tools in finance and what might be worth paying for:
AI for Financial Calculations:
Tools like ChatGPT and Claude are great for general queries, but they often struggle with precision in financial calculations, especially when compliance and accuracy are critical. For actual financial modeling, sticking to specialized software like Excel (with advanced modeling templates) or tools integrated with financial data providers (e.g., Bloomberg Terminal) is still the gold standard.
Source Documents Without Hallucinations:
One of the biggest challenges with AI tools is their tendency to "hallucinate" or fabricate information. For sourcing documents and ensuring accuracy, tools that integrate directly with your firm's data repositories or compliance-approved databases are essential. AI tools like Rogo might demo well but often fall short in real-world applications, as you've noted. It's worth exploring tools that focus on document management and compliance, such as Kira Systems for contract analysis or Alphasense for research.
Real Workflows vs. Fancy Chatbots:
The key is finding tools that integrate seamlessly into your existing workflows. For example:
Time-Saving AI Tools:
Key Takeaway:
AI tools are most valuable when they enhance existing workflows, ensure compliance, and save time without sacrificing accuracy. While tools like ChatGPT and Claude are great for brainstorming or quick answers, compliance-approved, finance-specific tools like Alphasense, Kira Systems, or Excel add-ins remain the most reliable for professional use.
Sources: What kind of tools / apps do you wish existed in the industry?, Q&A: AI will automate many roles in the IB/PE world. A live Q&A with Arctic, who are recruiting finance professionals to help manage that change, Google partners with Goldman Sachs in automating Investment Banking, Will robots replace your consulting or financial career?, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/consulting/any-advice-on-tools-for-researching-info-collection-distilling-reports-managing?customgpt=1
totally agree on the rogo thing haha. we used it for a stretch and the gap between the sales pitch and day-to-day usage is...notable though we still have a contract so i wont say more.
I have signed up personally for Terminal X and it seems to be a lot better than other players. and the off the shelf data is much better (wall street research, bloomberg, factset, preqin. and every answer shows you the source at the sentence level. so when it pulls a footnote you can actually verify it isn't made up. that alone fixes like 80% of the issues I had with rogo. theres a free plan and i pay only $30 so worth a try.
Claude via personal account is still my go-to for anything that needs real reasoning or drafting. ChatGPT for quick stuff. Copilot i've basically accepted as a meme idk anybody who uses them seriously throw them away.
compliance wise, most of the good tools are consumer-facing right now, enterprise versions are catching up slowly but compliance moves so slow so do those tools.
Rogo is hot garbage.
check out at this startup: IB Copilot AI.
If you look up any company, it'll run you full models (DCFs, LBOs, everything), pitch decks, investment memos, from almost nothing. Spot on accurate. If it's a private company it scrapes data from what it can find, and you can also input it financials that a client gave or stuff like that. Any sort of input you give it, it'll take it into account in its analysis, and provide basically everything you need for due diligence, modeling, and investment committees.
It also has editable AI native environment where you can use ai to edit your model live, or manually if you prefer.
Just released a couple weeks ago and will take the industry by storm I think.
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We use Claude and ChatGPT unofficially. We also utilize services like Preqin, Octum AI, and Pitchbook.
Copilot is absolute BS. As an ex MBB, I am really surprised how far behind the banks are in adopting AI. Well it makes sense given the higher complexity in compliance.
MBBs (at least mine) currently throw the kitchen sink at AI adoption, meaning people can use everything from Cursor (with Claude Opus Max 4.8), to Lovable, Perplexity Pro, ChatGPT Pro and what not.
There will be some sort of awakening when the bill is due, but the approach now seems more like spend the money, let people use as many tools as possible and then scale back the spending eventually.
If so many people in finance are still using copilot it really does not surprise me to read coping statement like "WeLl, iTs aCtuAlLy nOt tHaT helPfUl to UsE AI". Using something like Opus Max 4.8 vs. Copilot is literally like driving a Ferrari vs. a Fiat. Off the charts different user experience.
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