On the 61st episode of Enterprise AI Innovators, hosts Evan Reiser (CEO and co-founder, Abnormal AI) and Saam Motamedi (Greylock Partners) talk with Allen Fazio, CIO at Houlihan Lokey. Allen lays out how a global mid-cap M&A leader is rethinking investment banking as a professional service powered by AI. By putting a single orchestration layer at the center and starting with “100-level” use cases for analysts and interns, he is building an innovation engine that protects regulatory exposure while transforming how human bankers research, model, and execute deals.

Quick hits from Allen:

On orchestration and data advantage: “We've been looking for almost three years for what I'll call the orchestration layer. What do we put in the middle of the picture?”

On analyst-first AI adoption: “So for us, our focus is going to be on the lookout level, right. Let's start with the analysts, associates, and interns. And let's really focus on their capabilities, where I think some of our peers are. I'm not saying they're wrong, but where they're spending more time than I'm going to spend is on these high-end use cases.”

On culture over tools: “You're building out an innovation culture, not deploying a technology or a toolset.”

Recent Book Recommendation: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

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Enterprise AI Innovators is a show where top technology executives share how AI is transforming the enterprise. Find more great lessons from tech leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/

Enterprise AI Innovators is produced by Abnormal Studios.