Verified
BlackRock
Experimenting- Asset management
- ~24,900 employees
- Aladdin on Azure and AWS
- RockAI for 5,000 developers (Apr 2026)
- No AI return reported
BlackRock deploys AI through tools it builds on Aladdin, its own investment platform, hosted on Microsoft Azure and AWS. BlackRock's tools include Asimov, an agentic research analyst for fundamental equity teams, and RockAI, a no-code agent builder released to its 5,000 developers in Apr 2026. BlackRock also bought more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses for all staff in 2024 and sells Aladdin Copilot to clients. Nish Ajitsaria, co-head of Aladdin Product Engineering, is BlackRock's executive sponsor for AI, and BlackRock has published no return it credits to AI.
blackrock.comTheir approach to AI
- The platform
- BlackRock builds its AI on Aladdin, the platform it runs for itself and licenses to clients. BlackRock's tools include Asimov, an agentic research platform for fundamental equity (Jun 2025), and RockAI, a no-code interface for building agents, released to its 5,000 developers in Apr 2026.
- The models
- BlackRock built its first copilots on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service and runs Microsoft 365 Copilot across the firm. RockAI lets users pick the model, and BlackRock has not named the models behind it (Apr 2026).
- The reach
- BlackRock bought more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses spanning all employees (Sep 2024), and Microsoft said about 60% of BlackRock's Copilot users used it weekly in Nov 2024. BlackRock has given no newer firmwide user count.
- The catch
- BlackRock has published no business return it credits to AI. BlackRock's 2026 proxy says AI and Asimov helped scale equity research, without a figure, and Larry Fink's link between flat headcount, asset growth and technology including AI dates from Apr 2024.
Snapshot
- Employees
- ~24,900
- Dec 31, 2025; 40% in the Americas, 31% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 29% in Asia-Pacific
- Technology expense
- $809M (2025)
- General and administration line only; BlackRock publishes no total technology budget
- AI/ML headcount
- Not disclosedest.
- 5,000 in-house developers (Apr 2026); AI Labs had more than 100 AI experts in Dec 2023
- Who owns AI
- Nish Ajitsaria
- Executive sponsor for AI; co-head of Aladdin Product Engineering; COO Rob Goldstein oversees Aladdin
- Platform
- Aladdin, with RockAI and Asimov
- Built in-house; Microsoft 365 Copilot bought for office work
- Models
- Microsoft Azure OpenAI
- eFront Copilot built on Azure OpenAI (Dec 2023); RockAI's models not named
- Reach
- 24,000+ Copilot licenses
- Sep 2024; RockAI released to 5,000 developers in Apr 2026
- Assets under management
- $15.5 trillion
- Sep 30, 2026 (Q3 2026 earnings call)
Key findings
BlackRock has published no business return it credits to AI. BlackRock's Apr 2026 proxy statement says the Portfolio Management Group used AI, including the Asimov research platform, to scale equity research and automate core processes in 2025, without a cost or headcount figure.
BlackRock released RockAI, a no-code interface for building AI agents with security guardrails built in, to its 5,000 in-house developers in Apr 2026, according to the Wall Street Journal as reported by AI Street. BlackRock plans to open RockAI to non-technical staff.
COO Rob Goldstein unveiled Asimov at BlackRock's Jun 12, 2025 investor day as a virtual investment analyst for the fundamental equity business, whose agents scan research notes, filings and emails overnight. Goldstein said he expects Asimov to be used across the firm by the next investor day.
BlackRock bought more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses spanning all employees (Sep 2024), against a workforce of about 24,900 at Dec 31, 2025. Aladdin, which carries BlackRock's own AI tools, is hosted on Microsoft Azure and AWS.
BlackRock cut about 250 jobs, roughly 1% of staff, in Jan 2026 and about 200, just under 1%, in Jun 2026, and CFO Martin Small said headcount would be broadly flat in 2026. BlackRock has not tied the cuts to AI.
Where BlackRock sits
- Stage
- Experimenting
BlackRock has reported no business return it credits to AI since May 2025, for any use case or for the firm as a whole. BlackRock's Apr 2026 proxy statement says the Portfolio Management Group used AI, including the Asimov research platform, to scale equity research and automate core processes in 2025, without a cost or headcount figure. The last firm-level link Larry Fink drew, $2.5 trillion of asset growth over 18 months with flat headcount credited to technology including AI, dates from Apr 2024 and gives AI no share. On rollout, BlackRock's newest count is the release of RockAI to its 5,000 in-house developers in Apr 2026, reported by the Wall Street Journal. The RockAI figure counts engineers given access rather than company-wide use, and BlackRock's firmwide figure, more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses with about 60% weekly use, dates from 2024. BlackRock's AI work since May 2025, from Asimov and RockAI to Aladdin Wealth's Auto Commentary, places it at Experimenting. BlackRock falls short of Piloting, which needs one AI-credited return or an officially reported company-wide rollout with a user count and a named owner.
How the stages are defined - Ownership
- Nish Ajitsaria, executive sponsor for AI and co-head of Aladdin Product Engineering
- Platform
- Hybrid: Asimov and RockAI built on Aladdin; Microsoft 365 Copilot bought
- Models
- Microsoft Azure OpenAI behind the copilots; RockAI's models not named
- Hosting
- Aladdin hosted on Microsoft Azure and AWS; copilots built on Azure OpenAI; BlackRock also owns a data center in Amherst, NY
- Reach
- 24,000+ Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses (Sep 2024)
How they deploy
Build on Aladdin
BlackRock builds its AI tools on Aladdin, the investment and risk platform it uses as its own operating system and licenses to outside investors. Sudhir Nair, Global Head of Aladdin, oversees the commercial, product and engineering teams for both roles. BlackRock's 2025 Form 10-K names investments in Aladdin AI copilots among the steps expected to add value for Aladdin users. Larry Fink wrote in the 2025 annual report that Aladdin will be a major beneficiary of AI, and said on Oct 14, 2026 that AI is amplifying the value of Aladdin.
Agents as the default way of working
Nish Ajitsaria, BlackRock's executive sponsor for AI, told the Wall Street Journal in Apr 2026 that AI will become the default mode for most processes, including research, coding and operations, according to AI Street. Ajitsaria said people in smaller cross-functional teams would oversee the work. BlackRock gave RockAI to engineers first and plans to extend it to non-technical staff, who could build agents for parts of their own manual work and share them.
Scale people, not replace them
Rob Goldstein said in Jun 2025 that BlackRock expects Asimov to be used across the firm by its next investor day to scale its people. Larry Fink said on an Apr 2024 earnings call that the ambition is for the whole organization to do more with fewer people, which he tied to rising wages. Fink wrote in Mar 2026 that no one knows with certainty what AI will mean for entry-level white-collar roles.
AI inside the products BlackRock sells
BlackRock puts generative AI into the software it licenses: eFront Copilot for private markets clients (2023), Aladdin Copilot for Aladdin clients (by Sep 2024) and Auto Commentary in Aladdin Wealth (Oct 2025). In Sep 2026 BlackRock added a connector that brings its model portfolios and portfolio analytics into Anthropic's Claude for Financial Advisors through Advisor Center, and said it is launching its own plugin.
AI as an investment theme
BlackRock also invests in AI as an asset manager. BlackRock's AI Infrastructure Partnership had raised more than $12.5 billion from founders and clients by early 2026 and agreed to acquire Aligned Data Centers. BlackRock Systematic says it has used data and AI in its investment process for 20 years. Those investments are client mandates, not tools BlackRock deploys for its own staff.
- Deployment model
- BlackRock runs AI through Aladdin engineering, which builds firmwide tools such as RockAI and the Aladdin copilots, and through teams inside the investment businesses that build their own research AI. Kirsty Craig's team of about 60 software engineers, data engineers and data scientists builds research, data and AI tools across the Portfolio Management Group and helped build Asimov (Dec 2025). BlackRock Systematic applies machine learning and large language models in its own investment process. Nish Ajitsaria, co-head of Aladdin Product Engineering, is BlackRock's executive sponsor for AI. COO Rob Goldstein oversees Aladdin and the firm's operating and technology platforms.
- Model providers
- BlackRock built eFront Copilot, its first generative AI client tool, on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service (Dec 2023), and Microsoft says Aladdin Copilot uses Microsoft technology (Nov 2024). BlackRock bought Microsoft 365 Copilot for all employees in 2024. A 2025 BlackRock research study of a multi-agent equity analysis system ran OpenAI's GPT-4o on Microsoft's AutoGen framework, according to AI Street. RockAI lets users choose the AI model for each agent, and BlackRock has not named the models it offers (Apr 2026). BlackRock's connector for Anthropic's Claude for Financial Advisors (Sep 2026) sends BlackRock analytics to advisers' Claude, a distribution deal rather than a model BlackRock runs for its staff.
- Data and infrastructure
- BlackRock's 2025 Form 10-K says the Aladdin infrastructure and environment for BlackRock and its outside Aladdin clients are hosted on Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, and that BlackRock has moved some corporate systems to cloud platforms. BlackRock formed its alliance to move Aladdin to Azure in 2020, according to Microsoft. BlackRock announced Aladdin on AWS on Dec 1, 2025, with general availability for US-hosted Aladdin Enterprise clients expected in the second half of 2026. BlackRock also owns a 43,000 square foot data center in Amherst, New York, and has opened data centers in some countries to host Aladdin client data locally. BlackRock has not said whether any AI model runs there.
Platforms and internal tools
Aladdin CopilotBy Sep 2024
Aladdin Copilot is the generative AI assistant inside BlackRock's Aladdin platform that answers users' questions about their portfolios and data in natural language. Microsoft said in Sep 2024 that Aladdin Copilot was available to Aladdin clients. According to Microsoft, Aladdin Copilot filters content, limits hallucination, gives no investment advice and does not answer questions outside the Aladdin platform.
- Models
- Microsoft technology on Azure
eFront CopilotDec 2023
eFront Copilot turns text questions into data visualizations for clients of eFront, BlackRock's private markets software. eFront Copilot opened to 10 volunteer clients in Dec 2023 after internal testing, with a wider eFront Insight rollout planned for early 2024.
- Models
- Azure OpenAI
AsimovJun 2025
Asimov is BlackRock's agentic AI research platform for its fundamental equity business. Rob Goldstein described Asimov in Jun 2025 as a virtual investment analyst whose agents scan research notes, company filings and emails overnight to generate portfolio insights. BlackRock's Apr 2026 proxy statement lists Asimov among the AI the Portfolio Management Group used to scale equity research in 2025.
RockAIApr 2026
RockAI is BlackRock's central interface for building AI agents, according to the Wall Street Journal as reported by AI Street. Users pick a model, add context and connect internal databases in natural language, with safety and security guardrails built in, so agents can be made in minutes without code. BlackRock released RockAI to its in-house developers in Apr 2026 and plans to open it to non-technical staff.
- Users
- 5,000 developers (Apr 2026)
Microsoft 365 Copilot2024
BlackRock bought more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses spanning all employees, functions and locations, after starting with its 500-person Digital Workplace group and a crew of about 3,000 early adopters (Sep 2024).
- Users
- 24,000+ licenses (Sep 2024); about 60% of users weekly (Nov 2024)
- Models
- Microsoft 365 Copilot
Auto Commentary in Aladdin WealthOct 2025
Auto Commentary is a generative AI feature in Aladdin Wealth that combines Aladdin risk analytics, a firm's chief investment office outlook and client portfolio details into bullet-point talking points for financial advisers. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management was the first firm to use it, in its Portfolio Risk Platform, and the feature comes only with an enterprise Aladdin license.
Vendors and partners
Microsoft2020
Azure host for Aladdin, Azure OpenAI behind the copilots, Microsoft 365 Copilot firmwide · Microsoft said in Nov 2024 that BlackRock's long-term partnership includes an enterprise-wide deal for 24,000 seats of Microsoft 365 Copilot and a move of its on-premises CRM to Dynamics 365.
Amazon Web ServicesDec 2025
Second cloud host for Aladdin · Amazon Treasury is among the first users of Aladdin on AWS; general availability for US-hosted Aladdin Enterprise clients is expected in the second half of 2026.
AnthropicSep 2026
BlackRock connector and plugin in Claude for Financial Advisors · BlackRock brings its portfolio construction expertise, model portfolios and analytics into Claude through Advisor Center; Charles Schwab, Vanguard and iCapital are also connected.
OpenAI
Models through Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service; GPT-4o in a 2025 research study · BlackRock has not said which models run inside RockAI.
Morgan Stanley Wealth ManagementOct 2025
First client of Aladdin Wealth Auto Commentary
Leadership
AI, data and platform leaders
Executives
AI org map
AI built by Aladdin engineering and by teams inside the investment businesses, with an executive sponsor for AI
BlackRock has no chief AI officer: Nish Ajitsaria, co-head of Aladdin Product Engineering and a Global Executive Committee member, is the firm's executive sponsor for AI. Aladdin's commercial, product and engineering teams report to Sudhir Nair, Global Head of Aladdin, and COO Rob Goldstein oversees Aladdin and BlackRock's operating and technology platforms. The investment businesses under J. Richard Kushel build their own research AI, including Asimov, and BlackRock Systematic under Raffaele Savi runs its own machine learning research.
BlackRock's AI work sits in Aladdin engineering, which builds firmwide tools such as RockAI for about 5,000 in-house developers (Apr 2026), and in teams inside the investment businesses. The investment-side teams include Kirsty Craig's group of about 60 engineers and data scientists in portfolio management technology and BlackRock Systematic's quantitative researchers. BlackRock has not published a count of its AI and machine learning staff. A Dec 2023 report said BlackRock's AI Labs, founded in 2018, had built a team of more than 100 AI experts across departments.
Reporting lines
Chairman and CEO
Chief Operating Officer
Oversees Aladdin and the firm's operating and technology platforms; the line to the CEO is inferred, not published
Aladdin
Sudhir Nair, Global Head of Aladdin
Commercial, product and engineering teams for Aladdin as BlackRock's operating system and as a client product; the line to the COO is inferred from Goldstein's remit
Aladdin Product Engineering
Nish Ajitsaria, co-head; Executive Sponsor for AI
Builds RockAI; the other co-head is not named in BlackRock's published leadership list
Technology & Operations
Derek Stein
Worldwide operations; reporting line not published
Portfolio Management Group
Fundamental and systematic investing; reporting line not published
Portfolio Management Technology: Research, Data and AI
Kirsty Craig
About 60 engineers and data scientists; built Asimov with the fundamental equity business; reporting line not published
BlackRock Systematic
BlackRock's published Global Executive Committee lists Nish Ajitsaria, Sudhir Nair, Kunal Khara, Derek Stein and Rob Goldstein but no chief technology, data or AI officer, and BlackRock does not publish who reports to whom. Lance Braunstein, who headed Aladdin Engineering and co-signed the Dec 2023 generative AI memo, left to become Optiver's global CTO effective May 1, 2025.
Where the AI workforce sits
Aladdin engineering and product
Estimate: most of BlackRock's roughly 5,000 in-house developers (Apr 2026) work on Aladdin, which BlackRock calls its operating system; BlackRock publishes no split.
Not disclosedInvestment-side AI and data teams
Estimate: Kirsty Craig's team of about 60 and BlackRock Systematic's research staff; no total published.
Not disclosed
Named people
Use cases
BlackRock has not published a count of its AI use cases. The use cases on the public record run in investment research (Asimov in fundamental equity, large language models in BlackRock Systematic) and in engineering (RockAI for agent building). Others run in office work (Microsoft 365 Copilot) and in the software BlackRock sells (Aladdin Copilot, eFront Copilot and Aladdin Wealth's Auto Commentary). BlackRock has published no return it credits to AI for any of them and has reported no firm-level AI figure. The Apr 2026 proxy credits AI and Asimov with scaling equity research, without a figure.
| Use case | Area | Status | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asimov virtual investment analyst Asimov's agents scan research notes, company filings and emails overnight to generate portfolio insights for BlackRock's fundamental equity business, which began using Asimov in Jun 2025. The Apr 2026 proxy says AI including Asimov helped the Portfolio Management Group scale equity research and automate core processes in 2025. | Portfolio Management Group | In production | |
| Machine learning and language models for alpha signals BlackRock Systematic applies large language models to broker reports to estimate market sentiment and to find thematic baskets of securities. BlackRock's systematic equity investors draw on more than 1,000 alpha signals and an AI-driven research engine (Jul 2026). | BlackRock Systematic | In production | |
| RockAI agent building BlackRock developers build task-specific agents in RockAI by choosing a model, adding context and connecting internal databases, for example an agent that researches the top 2 US real estate investment trusts. BlackRock plans to open RockAI to non-technical staff. | Engineering | In production | |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot for office work BlackRock staff use Microsoft 365 Copilot for office work, for example to summarize a week of email into a table of action items, under licenses that span all employees (Sep 2024). | Firmwide | In production | |
| Aladdin Copilot Aladdin Copilot answers Aladdin users' questions about their portfolios and the platform in natural language, inside guardrails that block investment advice and questions outside Aladdin. | Aladdin clients | In production | |
| eFront Copilot for private markets eFront Copilot turns text questions from private markets clients into custom data visualizations. eFront Copilot opened to 10 volunteer eFront clients in Dec 2023. | Aladdin clients | In production | |
| Auto Commentary for financial advisers Auto Commentary drafts bullet-point talking points for advisers from Aladdin risk analytics, a firm's investment outlook and client portfolio details. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management began using it in Oct 2025. | Aladdin Wealth | In production | |
| BlackRock analytics in Claude for Financial Advisors BlackRock's connector brings its model portfolios, portfolio construction expertise and institutional analytics into Anthropic's Claude for Financial Advisors through Advisor Center, and BlackRock said it is launching its own plugin (Sep 2026). | U.S. Wealth Advisory | Announced | |
| AlphaAgents multi-agent stock analysis BlackRock researchers built 3 agents that analyze a stock's filings, news and valuation and debate to a buy or sell call, testing them on 15 technology stocks over 4 months of 2024 in a 2025 study. | Investment research | Pilot |
Adoption
BlackRock spread AI in layers, starting with machine learning in BlackRock Systematic's investing about 20 years ago and an AI Labs group in 2018. Generative AI tools reached staff and Aladdin clients from Jan 2024, and Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses went to every employee in 2024. Asimov reached fundamental equity in Jun 2025, and RockAI reached developers in Apr 2026. BlackRock's only firmwide usage figures come from Microsoft: more than 24,000 Copilot licenses (Sep 2024) and about 60% of Copilot users active weekly (Nov 2024). BlackRock itself has given no count of employees using AI since then, and the 5,000 developers given RockAI in Apr 2026 count access, not use.
By the numbers
Rollout, first pilot to today
2018
BlackRock launched AI Labs, which had grown to a team of more than 100 AI experts across departments by Dec 2023.
2020
BlackRock formed a strategic alliance with Microsoft to move Aladdin to Microsoft Azure.
Dec 2023
A memo from Rob Goldstein, Kfir Godrich and Lance Braunstein said BlackRock would roll out generative AI tools to staff and clients from Jan 2024, including a copilot for Aladdin and eFront.
Dec 2023
BlackRock opened eFront Copilot, built on Azure OpenAI, to 10 volunteer eFront clients after internal testing.
Sep 2024
BlackRock had bought more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses spanning all employees, after a start with its 500-person Digital Workplace group and about 3,000 early adopters.
Sep 2024
Microsoft said Aladdin Copilot was available to Aladdin clients.
Nov 2024
Microsoft said about 60% of BlackRock's Microsoft 365 Copilot users used it weekly.
Jun 2025
Rob Goldstein unveiled Asimov, an AI research platform in use in BlackRock's fundamental equity business, at the firm's investor day.
Oct 2025
Aladdin Wealth launched Auto Commentary, a generative AI feature for advisers, with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management as its first user.
Dec 2025
BlackRock and AWS agreed to host Aladdin on AWS alongside Microsoft Azure.
Apr 2026
BlackRock released RockAI, a no-code agent builder, to its 5,000 in-house developers, with a firmwide release planned.
Sep 2026
BlackRock connected its adviser analytics to Anthropic's Claude for Financial Advisors.
Economics & controls
Spend and ROI
Technology spending
BlackRock publishes no total technology budget. The technology line in its general and administration expense was $809 million in 2025, up from $674 million in 2024, and excludes the pay of BlackRock's engineers. BlackRock's 2025 Form 10-K names investments in Aladdin AI copilots among its technology priorities without a figure.
What AI itself costs
BlackRock has not disclosed what it spends on AI models, licenses or compute. CFO Martin Small said in Jan 2026 that BlackRock expects a mid-single-digit percentage rise in general and administration expense in 2026 after annualizing the HPS and Preqin acquisitions, without breaking out AI.
Reported ROI
BlackRock has reported no business return it credits to AI. BlackRock's Apr 2026 proxy statement says the Portfolio Management Group scaled efficiently in 2025 through iHub hiring and AI, including Asimov, which helped scale equity research and automate core processes, with no cost or headcount figure. Larry Fink said in Apr 2024 that BlackRock had added $2.5 trillion of assets over 18 months with flat headcount, crediting technology including AI, a gain not separated from markets and other technology. Aladdin's technology services revenue rose 13% and its annual contract value 15% in Q2 2026, figures for the business of selling Aladdin that BlackRock does not credit to AI.
Headcount
BlackRock had about 24,900 employees at Dec 31, 2025, after taking on thousands of staff through acquisitions over 2 years. BlackRock cut about 250 jobs, roughly 1% of staff, in Jan 2026 and about 200 more, just under 1%, in Jun 2026, calling the second round the ordinary discipline of an evolving organization. Martin Small said headcount would be broadly flat in 2026. BlackRock has not tied any of the cuts to AI, and Larry Fink wrote in Mar 2026 that no one knows with certainty what AI will mean for entry-level white-collar jobs.
Governance and risk
Disclosed AI risks
BlackRock's 2025 Form 10-K says BlackRock uses machine learning and AI in its business and expects to expand its AI capabilities, including generative AI. The 10-K lists failing to manage the development and use of AI among its risks, and names content that appears correct but is wrong, data leakage, intellectual property, fraud and regulatory scrutiny among the hazards. The filing also notes the European Commission's Nov 2025 proposal to delay rules on high-risk AI uses under the EU AI Act.
Board oversight
BlackRock's Risk Committee received updates from the chief information security officer at each scheduled meeting in 2025, covering developments and controls related to generative AI, according to the Apr 2026 proxy statement. The proxy says BlackRock's directors also received briefings on developments in AI.
Guardrails in the tools
Aladdin Copilot filters content, limits hallucination, gives no investment advice and does not answer questions outside the Aladdin platform, Microsoft said in Sep 2024. BlackRock built safety and security guardrails into RockAI so agents can be created without code, Pavan Pemmaraju told the Wall Street Journal in Apr 2026.
Client data and AI products
Auto Commentary in Aladdin Wealth is sold only with an enterprise Aladdin license, and some wealth firms were still reviewing its legal implications at launch in Oct 2025. BlackRock has opened data centers in some countries to keep Aladdin client data in the client's home location, which its 10-K says adds regulatory and operational risk.
Recent signals
Oct 14, 2026
Larry Fink said on BlackRock's Q3 2026 call that AI is amplifying the value of Aladdin as BlackRock speeds up innovation and builds better analytics, with assets under management at $15.5 trillion.
Sep 14, 2026
Anthropic launched Claude for Financial Advisors with a BlackRock connector that brings BlackRock's model portfolios and analytics into Claude through Advisor Center.
Jul 15, 2026
BlackRock said on its Q2 2026 call that it is building AI analysis tools for Aladdin clients across public and private markets and that its systematic equity investors use an AI-driven research engine.
Jun 17, 2026
BlackRock cut about 200 jobs, just under 1% of staff, across investment, operations and technology, following 3 earlier rounds in 18 months, 2 of them in 2025. BlackRock did not tie the cuts to AI.
Apr 30, 2026
Rob Goldstein said on Bloomberg's Odd Lots that software products which collate public information face disruption from AI tools.
Apr 23, 2026
AI Street, citing the Wall Street Journal, reported that BlackRock had released RockAI, a no-code agent builder, to its 5,000 in-house developers and plans to open it to non-technical staff.
Apr 2026
BlackRock's 2026 proxy statement said the Portfolio Management Group used AI, including the Asimov research platform, to scale equity research in 2025, and that the board's Risk Committee reviewed controls related to generative AI.
Mar 23, 2026
Larry Fink's annual letter warned that AI could widen wealth inequality unless ownership broadens, and said no one knows with certainty what AI will mean for entry-level white-collar jobs.
Feb 2026
BlackRock's 2025 Form 10-K said the Aladdin environment for BlackRock and its clients is hosted on Microsoft Azure and AWS and named investments in Aladdin AI copilots among its priorities.
Jan 15, 2026
CFO Martin Small said BlackRock expects headcount to be broadly flat in 2026, and BlackRock said its systematic investors have used data and AI for 20 years.
Jan 13, 2026
BlackRock planned to cut about 250 jobs, roughly 1% of staff, across units including investment and sales, calling it part of its routine adjustment of staffing.
Dec 17, 2025
Business Insider profiled Kirsty Craig, one of 5 new BlackRock Tech Fellows, who helped build Asimov and whose team is considering extending agentic research to fixed income and macro investing.
Dec 1, 2025
BlackRock and AWS announced that Aladdin will be hosted on AWS as well as Microsoft Azure, with Amazon Treasury among the first users.
Quick answers
- How does BlackRock deploy AI?
- BlackRock deploys AI through tools it builds on Aladdin, its own investment platform, hosted on Microsoft Azure and AWS. BlackRock's tools include Asimov, an agentic research analyst for fundamental equity teams, and RockAI, a no-code agent builder released to its 5,000 developers in Apr 2026. BlackRock also bought more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses for all staff in 2024 and sells Aladdin Copilot to clients. Nish Ajitsaria, co-head of Aladdin Product Engineering, is BlackRock's executive sponsor for AI, and BlackRock has published no return it credits to AI.
- What does BlackRock use AI for?
- BlackRock has not published a count of its AI use cases. The use cases on the public record run in investment research (Asimov in fundamental equity, large language models in BlackRock Systematic) and in engineering (RockAI for agent building). Others run in office work (Microsoft 365 Copilot) and in the software BlackRock sells (Aladdin Copilot, eFront Copilot and Aladdin Wealth's Auto Commentary). BlackRock has published no return it credits to AI for any of them and has reported no firm-level AI figure. The Apr 2026 proxy credits AI and Asimov with scaling equity research, without a figure.
- Who leads AI at BlackRock?
- AI at BlackRock is led by Nish Ajitsaria (Co-Head of Aladdin Product Engineering; Executive Sponsor for AI); Sudhir Nair (Global Head of Aladdin); Kunal Khara (Global Head of Aladdin Product). Ownership of AI on the org chart: Nish Ajitsaria, executive sponsor for AI and co-head of Aladdin Product Engineering.
- What AI platform does BlackRock use?
- BlackRock builds its AI on Aladdin, the platform it runs for itself and licenses to clients. BlackRock's tools include Asimov, an agentic research platform for fundamental equity (Jun 2025), and RockAI, a no-code interface for building agents, released to its 5,000 developers in Apr 2026.
- Which AI models does BlackRock use?
- BlackRock built its first copilots on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service and runs Microsoft 365 Copilot across the firm. RockAI lets users pick the model, and BlackRock has not named the models behind it (Apr 2026).
- How many BlackRock employees use AI?
- BlackRock bought more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses spanning all employees (Sep 2024), and Microsoft said about 60% of BlackRock's Copilot users used it weekly in Nov 2024. BlackRock has given no newer firmwide user count.
- What return has BlackRock reported from AI?
- BlackRock has reported no business return it credits to AI since May 2025, for any use case or for the firm as a whole. BlackRock's Apr 2026 proxy statement says the Portfolio Management Group used AI, including the Asimov research platform, to scale equity research and automate core processes in 2025, without a cost or headcount figure. The last firm-level link Larry Fink drew, $2.5 trillion of asset growth over 18 months with flat headcount credited to technology including AI, dates from Apr 2024 and gives AI no share. On rollout, BlackRock's newest count is the release of RockAI to its 5,000 in-house developers in Apr 2026, reported by the Wall Street Journal. The RockAI figure counts engineers given access rather than company-wide use, and BlackRock's firmwide figure, more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses with about 60% weekly use, dates from 2024. BlackRock's AI work since May 2025, from Asimov and RockAI to Aladdin Wealth's Auto Commentary, places it at Experimenting. BlackRock falls short of Piloting, which needs one AI-credited return or an officially reported company-wide rollout with a user count and a named owner.
Open questions
- What has Asimov returned to BlackRock in cost, analyst capacity or performance, given that the Apr 2026 proxy credits it with scaling equity research without a figure?
- How many BlackRock employees use AI tools each week today, given that the latest firmwide figures, more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses and about 60% weekly use, come from Microsoft in 2024?
- Which models does RockAI offer, where do they run, and has RockAI reached non-technical staff as planned?
- Has Asimov spread beyond the fundamental equity business, as Rob Goldstein said he expects by the next investor day?
- How much does BlackRock spend on AI models and compute, and how much of the $809 million technology expense in 2025 was AI?
- Did AI play any part in BlackRock's job cuts in Jan and Jun 2026, and in its plan to keep 2026 headcount broadly flat?
- How many Aladdin clients use Aladdin Copilot, eFront Copilot and Auto Commentary, and does BlackRock charge for them beyond the Aladdin license?
- Who leads Aladdin engineering alongside Nish Ajitsaria since Lance Braunstein left in 2025, and to whom does Ajitsaria report as executive sponsor for AI?
Sources
BlackRock
- Global Executive Committee
- Nish Ajitsaria, Co-Head of Aladdin Product Engineering, biography
- Rob Goldstein, COO, biography
- Sudhir Nair, Global Head of Aladdin, biography
- Kunal Khara, Global Head of Aladdin Product, biography
- Martin Small, CFO, biography
- Raffaele Savi, Global Head of BlackRock Systematic, biography
- Derek Stein, Global Head of Technology & Operations, biography
- BlackRock Systematic: new frontiers in data
- BlackRock hosts 2025 Investor Day (Jun 12, 2025)
Filings, letters and investor materials
- BlackRock 2025 Form 10-K (Feb 2026)
- BlackRock 2025 Annual Report
- BlackRock 2026 proxy statement (Apr 2026)
- Q3 2026 earnings call transcript, Bullfincher (Oct 14, 2026)
- Q2 2026 earnings call transcript, Bullfincher (Jul 15, 2026)
- Q1 2026 earnings call transcript, Bullfincher (Apr 14, 2026)
- Q4 2025 earnings call transcript, Equibles (Jan 15, 2026)
Partners
- Amazon: BlackRock partners with AWS to deliver Aladdin (Dec 1, 2025)
- Microsoft: Ignite 2024, BlackRock's 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot seats (Nov 19, 2024)
- Microsoft Source: How BlackRock's flight crew helped Copilot take off (Sep 9, 2024)
- Microsoft: AI-powered leadership from BlackRock and Microsoft, Aladdin Copilot (Sep 30, 2024)
- Anthropic: Claude for Financial Advisors
News
- Bloomberg via Bloomberg Law: BlackRock has built an AI analyst, Asimov (Jun 12, 2025)
- Marcellus, from Bloomberg: BlackRock's Asimov to be used across the firm (Jun 2025)
- AI Street: BlackRock eyes agent building for all staff, citing the Wall Street Journal (Apr 23, 2026)
- AI Street: BlackRock tests multi-agent AI for stock picks (Aug 21, 2025)
- Bloomberg via BGOV: Anthropic deepens finance ties with BlackRock, Vanguard (Sep 14, 2026)
- Business Insider via AOL: BlackRock's tech translator on agentic AI (Dec 17, 2025)
- InvestmentNews: BlackRock debuts AI commentary tool, Morgan Stanley first client (Oct 2025)
- InvestmentNews: BlackRock to cut jobs (Jan 13, 2026)
- American Bazaar: BlackRock cuts 200 jobs (Jun 17, 2026)
- Fortune: Larry Fink's 2026 letter on AI and wealth (Mar 24, 2026)
- 24/7 Wall St.: Rob Goldstein on convenience-layer software (Apr 30, 2026)
- Bloomberg Law: Fink says AI will raise productivity and worker pay (Apr 2024)
- Business Insider via Yahoo: Larry Fink thinks AI will boost wages (Apr 2024)
- FinTech Global: BlackRock to begin GenAI implementation in Jan 2024 (Dec 11, 2023)
- FStech: BlackRock rolling out GenAI tools to staff and clients (Dec 8, 2023)
- The Wealth Advisor: BlackRock eFront Copilot preview (Dec 2023)
- The TRADE: Aladdin engineering head Lance Braunstein joins Optiver (Feb 26, 2025)
Data confidence
- Confirmed
- Stated in a primary or reputable public source.
- Estimated
- Derived or approximated from public reporting.
- Unconfirmed
- Reported, but not yet corroborated.
BlackRock profile · Enterprise AI diffusion report by Imagine · facts checked against their sources on Nov 9, 2026
