Wall Street’s rising stars say AI makes core skills more urgent

The bankers and investors interviewed said the technology has not replaced the fundamentals of a Wall Street career. Instead, it has made judgment, communication and relationship-building more important as junior employees take on work that once consumed much of their time.

Jim Tilson, a 35-year-old senior managing director at Evercore, urged junior colleagues to remain active learners. He warned that relying too heavily on AI could hinder their ability to recognize patterns. “The best performers are going to leverage it as a tool and get way smarter, and the worst performers are going to let AI do their job and be replaced,” he said.

Diana Liu, a 33-year-old principal and data center investor at Blue Owl Capital, advised young employees to develop their own problem-solving framework before using AI to improve it. “Let it be your helper, not a replacement,” she said. Asher Hecht, a principal at General Atlantic, also emphasized analytical judgment: drawing insight from data, spotting trends and asking the right questions.

Independent thinking matters in deal work, too. David Oppenheim, a 35-year-old managing director at Evercore, said strong junior employees look beyond the task they have been assigned. Daniel Borkenstein, a 31-year-old private equity principal at Apollo Global, uses AI to test investment theses and sharpen how he communicates them, but said the technology does not supply the answer. “Judgment is your value add,” he said, adding that citing Claude as the reason for an investment decision would be unacceptable.

Relationships and fundamentals still count

Kate Casey, a 32-year-old principal at KKR, said the ability to connect with people helps distinguish professionals. Fiona Ismail, JPMorgan’s global head of investment-grade private credit, urged young employees to listen closely to colleagues and clients. AI can respond to what a user tells it, she said, but cannot identify the core of what another person is trying to say. Her JPMorgan colleague John Ballard said junior staff should learn what managers need and how to navigate unclear requests and timelines.

Ryan Febles, global head of equity capital markets at Capstone Investment Advisors, recommended seeking experiences that build emotional intelligence. Leaders want confidence that an employee can represent the business in front of a management team, he said.

Several interviewees cautioned against automating work before learning how to do it. Jake Epstein, a 28-year-old investor at Blackstone, said first-year analysts should both complete assignments and learn the underlying process. In real estate, that can include due diligence and ordering environmental or property-condition reports. Maya Venkatraman, a 34-year-old managing director at Morgan Stanley, said technical knowledge helps employees recognize weak assumptions and implausible answers.

AI fluency can also create opportunities. Mike Washington, a 32-year-old managing director at Goldman Sachs, recommended learning large language models and experimenting with “vibe coding”—using AI to write software and automate routine tasks. He said some young analysts are gaining more exposure to senior colleagues because they understand AI processes. Goldman managing director Bridget Chaudhry said junior employees should expect to learn in their roles, rather than expect others to teach them each skill.

The ability to handle unfamiliar problems is another recurring theme. Bank of America managing director Cody Kiechle said AI could free bankers to focus more on creative work and deal structures. Matthew Caltabiano, a 31-year-old portfolio manager at Millennium Management, urged young professionals to develop and execute a strong idea. Venkatraman advised getting comfortable with ambiguity, while Rex Johnson, Walleye Capital’s head of equity volatility, recommended learning from mistakes and moving on quickly.