At the Milken Conference, key figures from top hedge funds including Citadel, WorldQuant, and Freestone Grove shared insights on how artificial intelligence is transforming their investment strategies.
Umesh Subramanian, the Chief Technology Officer of Citadel, Andreas Kreuz, the Deputy CIO of WorldQuant, and Daniel Morillo, Cofounder of Freestone Grove, all stressed both the excitement and caution surrounding AI adoption in hedge fund operations.
Citadel’s AI Focus on Discretionary Investing
Citadel’s Umesh Subramanian emphasised that AI now plays a crucial role in discretionary investing.
He explained that analysts and investors face a vast “surface area” of information—ranging from documents to news articles and filings—which can overwhelm even seasoned professionals.
AI helps streamline this workload, giving analysts leverage to focus on high-impact areas.
He also noted that the fund’s founder, Ken Griffin, personally uses ChatGPT to enhance decision-making.
Subramanian highlighted the importance of intuitive AI tools, such as chatbots, which can answer questions in natural language.
These tools are designed to fit seamlessly into the investment workflow.
To support this, Citadel is actively hiring data scientists and AI experts to integrate AI capabilities across different teams.
WorldQuant’s Expansion into Complex Data
Andreas Kreuz from WorldQuant shared that the firm is pushing beyond basic AI use cases.
Their focus is on transforming unstructured data like images and audio into valuable inputs for investment models.
According to Kreuz, the most exciting developments lie beyond the obvious applications, as AI enables the firm to tap into new and unconventional data sources.
Freestone Grove’s Emphasis on Thoughtful AI Use
Daniel Morillo of Freestone Grove, which he cofounded with former Citadel executive Todd Barker in 2024, provided a more cautious perspective.
He stressed that it’s not just about building new AI tools, but ensuring people use existing ones responsibly.
Morillo pointed out that his firm prioritises preserving the edge analysts gain from doing their own research and thinking critically.
“Retaining our views is key,” he said, warning against allowing automation to dull human insight.
The Human Judgment Factor Remains Essential
All three executives echoed a common belief—AI is not replacing human judgment anytime soon.
Kreuz warned against trusting the “black box” of AI without scrutiny, noting it can produce more noise than signal.
Subramanian added that while AI brings significant leverage to investment processes, the ultimate decision-making still rests with humans.
He concluded that judgment remains the defining factor in successful investing.
Final Thoughts
The conversation at the Milken Conference made one thing clear—AI is an increasingly powerful tool in the hedge fund industry.
But firms like Citadel, WorldQuant, and Freestone Grove are using it with care, ensuring that human insight and critical thinking remain at the centre of every decision.
As the technology evolves, so too will the way top funds strike the balance between machine intelligence and human expertise.