As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the financial landscape, academic institutions are evolving rapidly to keep pace. The Improving Alpha podcast bridges the divide between academia and institutional investing. In our latest episode, we sit down with Costis Maglaras, Dean of Columbia Business School, to explore how business education is adapting to the expansion of frontier technologies.
Listen to the full conversation below.
Michael Oliver Weinberg, co-founder, Improving Alpha Podcast Series
Technology is driving innovation across all industry themes today. Many in finance and institutional investing believe artificial intelligence will be a force of dramatic change in the near future. The question becomes how can universities continue to be well-positioned for this technology expansion and growth while continuing to train students to prepare for the new world? More importantly, how can institutional investors that are currently navigating the markets leverage academic research to improve alpha and optimize their own organizations?
One university that is going all-in on understanding this massive technology wave is Columbia, and their business school. The Dean of the Columbia Business School, Costis Maglaras, joins the latest Improving Alpha episode to discuss his observations and approach to preparing students for the future and what technology transformation looks like across finance.
Additional key takeaways from this podcast include:
- Why is AI becoming such a drastic source of change for Columbia’s students and the industry as a whole?
- How many layers are there to curriculum innovation at Columbia, and what is so attractive about their AI tool for case discussions that it’s being piloted in 25 business schools across the country?
- What can the industry do better in leveraging academic research and modeling to improve alpha and portfolio performance returns? (For followers of the Improving Alpha podcast, you should also catch Simon Mayer, Assistant Professor of Finance, Carnegie Mellon University, for his thoughts on that as well).
- What is the difference between stationary and non-stationary LLM/neural net analysis? How do environmental variables like geopolitics, unpredictable changes in economic conditions, and more factor into any analysis?
- From a university perspective, is coding becoming less important as students' knowledge of agentic AI and Claude improves? How is Columbia approaching vibe coding?
- What will the institutional response be in digesting this wave of new technology, and how much change will happen to their financial products, services, and processes?
- Against a backdrop of Jamie Dimon soundbites, how does Costis think the labor force will be impacted by the use of AI?
- And more.
About our Guest: Costis Maglaras, Dean, Columbia Business School
Costis Maglaras is the 16th Dean of Columbia Business School and the David and Lyn Silfen Professor of Business at Columbia University. His work spans applied mathematics, economics, financial engineering, artificial intelligence, market structure, and algorithmic decision-making. He also brings experience in financial technology and asset management, including co-founding Mismi Inc., a quantitative trading and transaction analytics firm.
About Our Host: Michael Oliver Weinberg, CFA
For three decades Michael has invested directly at the security level and indirectly as an asset allocator in traditional and alternative asset classes. Most recently he was a Managing Director, Head of Alternative Alpha, on the Investment Committee, and a board member at APG, a Dutch pension provider. Previously he was the Chief Investment Officer at MOV37 and Protege Partners. Michael is also an Adjunct Professor of Economics and Finance at Columbia Business School, where he teaches Institutional Investing, an advanced MBA course that he created.
Michael is a published author, having written for The New York Times, international investment books, and other publications. Michael has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNBC, Bloomberg and Reuters. He is a frequent panelist, moderator and lecturer for investment banks, institutional and family office organizations, and business schools.
The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Vidrio Financial, and/or our host, Michael Oliver Weinberg. The Content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.