Corporate Talent Wars! Wall Street Banks Are Poaching Goldman Sachs Group’s AI Talent

tech.hindustantimes.com:

For months, banks have been jockeying to lure the best AI talent to their ranks — and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has been on the losing end of that fight.  The Wall Street giant has seen a net outflow of 60 people to rivals such as Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. in the 12 months through September, the most of any of its biggest rivals, according to data compiled by the consultancy Evident. Bank of America, which is down 55 staffers, suffered the second-biggest exodus, while Wells Fargo & Co. had the biggest net increase with 130 people. 

“It's not just about hiring people, but nurturing and retaining them,” Alexandra Mousavizadeh, Evident's chief executive officer, said in an interview. “They have a lot of other places to go.”

While the departures represent a small amount of the thousands of AI staff employed at banks, the data provides a window into just how fiercely competitive the landscape for AI talent has become. Employees with data, analytics, and artificial intelligence roles can be among the highest paid at any company. 

Median compensation, which includes any annualized equity grants, for employees in such roles in the US was $901,000 last year, while staffers in Europe with such experience took home $676,000, according to a report by the recruiting firm Heidrick & Struggles. 

For its analysis, Evident examined roles in AI development, model risk, data engineering and software development. The data don't capture banks' hiring of AI talent from universities and consultancies. 

Take Goldman Sachs, which has lost 106 staffers to rivals: That's just a small fraction of the nearly 46,000 employees the bank has globally. To be sure, the bank has been hiring and making investments as it seeks to attract top AI talent.