The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced the formation of a task force on AI, aimed at advancing the agency’s use of AI to support innovation and improve operational efficiency.
Valerie Szczepanik, newly appointed as the SEC’s Chief AI Officer, will lead the initiative.
The AI Task Force is intended to accelerate the responsible integration of AI across the agency, centralising efforts and promoting collaboration across divisions.
Its focus will include managing the AI lifecycle, addressing barriers to adoption, identifying high-impact applications, and maintaining appropriate governance.
The group will also support innovation within individual SEC divisions and offices.
“The AI Task Force will empower staff across the SEC with AI-enabled tools and systems to responsibly augment the staff’s capacity, accelerate innovation, and enhance efficiency and accuracy,”
said SEC Chair Paul Atkins.
“By ingraining innovation into our culture SEC-wide, we will further our mission to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.”
Szczepanik added:
“The AI Task Force will aim to centralise and align efforts to advance AI-enabled transformation across the entire Commission. I look forward to accelerating work already underway in the SEC’s divisions and offices to build enterprise capacity for AI innovation and implement AI solutions that are trustworthy, effective, and mission enhancing.”
Szczepanik was previously Director of the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology.
She has also served as Senior Adviser for Digital Assets and Innovation and Associate Director in the Division of Corporation Finance.
Prior to that, she was Assistant Director in the Division of Enforcement and served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York.
She holds a JD from Georgetown University and a BS in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News America, based on image by Frolopiaton Palm via Freepik
