BlackRock developing AI copilots for Aladdin

BlackRock is building AI “copilots” for Aladdin, its flagship investment management platform, according to chairman and CEO Larry Fink.

“The Aladdin platform is constantly in a state of innovation. Investments in Aladdin AI copilots, enhancements in openness, supporting ecosystem partnerships, and advancing whole portfolio solutions—including private markets and digital assets—are going to further augment the value of Aladdin for our clients,” Fink told investors on the firm’s Q4 earnings call.

Copilots are digital personal assistants built using large language models (LLMs) enriched with a user’s own data to help augment their workflows. BlackRock did not give details on the copilots, but one potential use of the technology could help investment professionals visualize the performance of selected aspects of their portfolios in different scenarios, all based on written instructions.

For example, last year, Microsoft unveiled plans to integrate copilots into its suite of enterprise products. The Microsoft 365 Copilot, which was released to the market last November, can already be used to scan a user’s email inbox for outstanding tasks or remind them about commitments they have made.

The first assistive copilot launched by the software giant was on developer platform GitHub. In an exclusive interview with WatersTechnology, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of worldwide financial services, Bill Borden, said that the trial yielded productivity gains in excess of 55% for coders. It’s unclear at this point if BlackRock will use copilots developed by Microsoft, a different third-party provider, or if the company will build these copilots internally. 

Last year, WatersTechnology reported on BlackRock’s plans to turn Aladdin into a one-stop shop catering not only to trading, but also to adjacent business functions like accounting books of record and data warehouses.

“It will be risk management, it will be the investment book of record, it will be performance, it will be accounting, and it will be the data surface,” said Sudhir Nair, global head of the Aladdin business, at BlackRock’s 2023 Investor Day.

Aladdin has around 130,000 users at more than 200 financial institutions. On today’s earnings call, BlackRock executives signaled future technology investments as it attempts to grow the platform’s functionalities.

In the 2023 financial year, BlackRock brought in over $1.5bn in tech services revenue. In the same period, more than 50% of Aladdin sales were multi-product, reflecting the firm’s strategy of upselling additional services to existing clients.