AI in Finance and Retirement Systems: Insights from the EBRI-Milken Institute Retirement Symposium

On March 11, I had the privilege of joining esteemed experts Bridget Bearden from the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Randy Blaha from Nationwide Financial at the EBRI- Milken Institute Retirement Symposium at The Reach, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The event brought together thought leaders, researchers, and policymakers to discuss pressing challenges and opportunities shaping the future of retirement security.

During my session, I explored the latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) and their implications for financial services and retirement planning. AI is rapidly transforming decision-making processes, risk assessment, and personalized financial guidance, offering both exciting opportunities and critical considerations for the industry.

Key Takeaways:

✅ AI’s Evolving Role in Finance – From improving retirement portfolio management to enhancing customer engagement, AI is making financial services more accessible, efficient, and intelligent.

✅ The Rise of AI Agents – Intelligent agents are streamlining tasks like research synthesis, compliance monitoring, and personalized financial education, but organizations must ensure responsible deployment and ethical considerations.

✅ AI Readiness & Validation – While some use cases are advancing rapidly, many organizations are still assessing their AI maturity and readiness. Strategic deployment and validation mechanisms remain key to unlocking AI’s full potential.

✅ QuSkillbridge.ai & AI for Upskilling – AI-powered platforms like QuantUniversity 's QuSkillbridge.ai platform are accelerating learning and professional development by automating course creation, making knowledge transfer more scalable and impactful.

The financial industry stands at a pivotal moment, where AI’s power can redefine retirement planning, enhance decision-making, and empower financial professionals. However, as adoption grows, so does the need for strong governance, validation, and transparency to ensure AI-driven solutions are both reliable and equitable.

1. AI and Large Language Models:
Update for 2025
2025 Copyright QuantUniversity LLC.
Presented By:
Sri Krishnamurthy, CFA, CAP
[email protected]
03/11/2025
EBRI-Milken Institute 2025 Retirement Symposium
Washington D.C.

2. 2
AI QUIZ TIME!

3. How can I use AI?
3

4. How can I use AI?
4

5. 5
What if we
use AI –
Reasoning
mode?

6. 6
What if we
use AI –
Reasoning
mode?

7. 7
So what’s happened in the last year?

9. 9
Advancements - Models
Thi s Photo by Unknown Author i s l icensed under CC BY-SA

10. Advancements - Agents
10

11. 11

13. 13
Review a 11-chapter 200-page research report on AI and
Big data and create a course with slides, videos and
Python-based labs geared towards professionals
Acceleration – QuSkillbridge.ai
*You can check it out yourselves at
www.QuSkillbridge.ai

14. 14
Validation
Source: https://weaviate.io/ebooks/agentic-architectures

15. •AI maturity is not uniform; some
use cases are advanced, while
others lag.
•Organizations need to assess
their use cases and strategically
deploy AI.
•A significant portion is still "not
ready for AI". This could change
as AI evolves in the future!
Value – But at what cost?
15

16. 16
•Big thanks to the AI applications Napkin.ai,
ChatGPT, Excalidraw, Google Colab Agents,
MANUS, and DALL-E for making me look
cooler and smarter than I really am.
•Without you, I’d have to do all these
visualizations myself in Powerpoint and
nobody wants to do that anymore in this age
of AI!
Sri Krishnamurthy,CFA
www.quantuniversity.com
Contact me at [email protected]
What will you do with AI in 2025?

17. 17
•Founder of www.QuantUniversity.com
•Research Advisory and Consultancy focused on
adoption of frontier technologies in Financial
Services
•Prior Experience at MathWorks, Citigroup and
Endeca and 25+ financial services and energy
customers
•Columnist for the Wilmott Magazine
•Author of forthcoming book
“AI & Risk Management (Wiley)”
•Charted Financial Analyst and Certified Analytics
Professional
•Teaches AI, Data Science and Fintech related
topics at Northeastern University, Boston
Sri Krishnamurthy, CFA
Founder and CEO
QuantUniversity