Investing with AI: From Chatbots to Agents (What Changed for Investors)

Welcome to episode one of Investing with AI Podcast for Financial Analysts.We’ve spent years in investing, and over the past couple years, we’ve been deep in the weeds with AI. Testing tools. Working with firms. Trying to understand what matters versus what’s just noise.For a while, most of it didn’t feel that useful but that’s starting to change rapidly. In this episode, we talk through what’s shifted, from basic chatbots to more agent-based workflows, and why that’s starting to matter for investors, analysts, and buy-side teams.We get into:The difference between AI chat tools and agent workflowsWhy AI felt overhyped before and what’s different nowWhere AI is actually useful in investment research todayThe limitations that still exist (and there are a lot)How investors should start thinking about using AI in their processWe’re not coming at this as “experts” with all the answers. We’re in it every day, testing, breaking things, and trying to understand where this is going.The goal of this podcast is simple: Bring you along as we learn, and give you a clearer view of how AI is actually being used in investing.If you’re working in equity research, hedge funds, or the buy side and trying to make sense of AI, this is a good place to start. Chapters (Timestamps)00:00 – Intro: Why We Started Investing with AI 00:21 – Khe’s Background (BlackRock → AI Consulting for Hedge Funds) 02:06 – Brett’s Background (Hedge Funds → Fundamental Edge) 03:30 – The Real Shift: From Chatbots to AI Agents 04:17 – When AI Actually Started Working (2025 Inflection Point) 06:11 – “AI-Pill” Moments: What Changed Our View on AI 07:43 – What Are Agent Workflows in Investing? 10:04 – Why AI Tools Failed Before (and What’s Better Now) 11:43 – How Much of an Investor’s Workflow Can AI Handle? 12:20 – Defining “Agentic” AI (Simple Explanation) 14:42 – Data Accuracy, MCP, and Why This Matters for Finance 17:19 – The Biggest Unlock: Using AI for Validation 19:57 – Common Problems Firms Have with AI Adoption 22:02 – Why Most Investment Workflows Are “Vibes” 24:00 – Turning Intuition Into Process (Hardest Part of AI) 26:44 – Expectation vs Reality: What AI Can’t Do Yet 28:39 – How to Start Using AI in Your Investment Process 30:10 – How We Stay Ahead in AI (Learning, Tools, Research) 33:20 – Translating AI Into Real Investing Workflows 35:14 – Why There Is No “Final State” of AI 36:09 – What AI Means for the Future of Investing Careers 37:30 – Outro: What to Expect From This Podcast