Special Session: Artificial Intelligence and Finance

This session is organized by Ruslan Goyenko (McGill University) and features two cutting-edge research papers followed by a panel discussion on the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Finance. The research papers to be presented are:

1. Social Learning and Sentiment Contagion in the Bitcoin Market
   Authors: Bing Han (University of Toronto), Haoyang Liu (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas), Pengfei Sui (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen)
   Discussant: Adlai Fisher (University of British Columbia)
2. Executives vs Chatbots: Unmasking Insights through Human-AI Differences in Earnings Conference Q&A
   Authors: Jianqiu Bai (Northeastern University), Nicole Boyson (Northeastern University), Yi Cao (George Mason University), Miao Liu (Boston College), Chi Wang (University of Massachusetts-Boston)
   Discussant: Joseph Bybee (University of Chicago)

The session will conclude with a panel discussion featuring three leading experts:

• Valérie Cecchini (BOREALIS Global Asset Management)
  Valérie Cecchini is co-founder and managing partner at Borealis Global Asset Management, where she is responsible for fundamental research and investment process, corporate governance and engagement. Valerie holds a master’s in finance from HEC Montreal, is a CFA charter holder and a CPA, and was the first portfolio manager in Canada to obtain the FSA (Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting) designation from SASB. An engaged leader, Valérie sits on the board of directors of the Foundation of Greater Montreal and chairs its investment committee, and is a member of the investment committee of the HEC Fund.

• Nicolas Chapados (ServiceNow)
  Nicolas Chapados is the Vice-President of Research at ServiceNow Inc., where he leads a team focused on advancing generative AI for the enterprise. He co-founded several machine learning startups in areas spanning medical imaging, portfolio management, and enterprise software, including Element AI, which was acquired by ServiceNow in 2021. He completed a PhD in Computer Science at the intersection of machine learning and finance, holds the CFA designation, and is an associate industrial member at Mila – Québec's AI Institute, the world's largest deep learning academic research institution.

• Charles Lespérance (BDC - Deep Tech Venture Fund)
  Charles Lespérance is a Partner in BDC Capital’s Deep Tech Venture Fund. Previously, Charles worked in private equity at PSP Investments and management consulting at McKinsey & Company where his main functional areas were strategy, operations and finance, with a focus on the mining and oil & gas sectors. Charles holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University in Montreal as well as an MBA from Harvard University. He also continues to be involved in academia as a guest lecturer on the topic of entrepreneurial finance.

Session sponsored by: