AI, vision, and the future of finance: J.P. Morgan's Zhen Zeng delivers PwC Lecture
In a recent lecture that bridged cutting-edge research and real-world application, Dr. Zhen Zeng, AI Research Lead at J.P. Morgan, visited William & Mary's Raymond A. Mason School of Business to deliver the spring PwC Distinguished Lecture on April 18. Her talk, titled "Beyond Words: How Multimodal AI Agents See, Think, and Take Action," captivated students and faculty alike as she explored how artificial intelligence expands beyond language models into visual perception, robotics, and intelligent automation.
Hosted by Professor Rachel Chung and supported by the PwC lecture series, the Mason School faculty research fund, and the Society of 1918 grant, Zeng's visit offered students a firsthand look into the rapidly evolving world of AI-driven finance.
"AI in Finance is no longer just about numbers and texts—it's about vision, interaction, and real-world action," said Zeng. "As AI-driven automation and human-AI collaboration reshape industries, I highly encourage students to engage with AI, embrace AI's multimodal capability today, and seize the opportunity to shape how AI integrates into our daily lives and workplaces."
Zeng's presentation traced the evolution of AI from language models to sophisticated multimodal agents—systems capable of integrating vision, language, and autonomous behavior. She demonstrated how the analysis of time-series data as images opens new frontiers in forecasting, and how AI agents can now read screens, understand user tasks, and manipulate digital interfaces through virtual "eyes" and "hands." Her talk culminated in a look at embodied agents—robots that can perceive, plan, and act in physical environments.
"Zeng's work perfectly illustrates the fusion of technical depth and practical impact we want our students to see," said Professor Chung, who organized the event. "I met Zhen at the ACM International Conference on AI in Finance (ICAIF) in 2022. She invited me to the Women in AI and Finance Workshop she organized, which became an amazing opportunity to collaborate with AI leaders from Fidelity, BlackRock, and Oxford."
That collaboration blossomed over the next three years, with Chung joining the organizing committee for the workshop and helping expand its outreach, including bringing William & Mary MSBA students and alumni to the ICAIF conference through the support of the Society of 1918 grant. "Bringing Zhen to campus this year was a natural next step," Chung added. "Our students had already connected with her during my AI course, and they were inspired by her research, and clear passion for the future of intelligent systems in finance."
During her visit, Zeng met with students from the Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program as part of their capstone kickoff event. She discussed careers in AI research, cross-disciplinary applications in finance, and women in STEM leadership. Several students described the experience as "transformative" and "a glimpse into the future of work."
Dr. Zeng holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan and has received multiple best paper awards at top AI and robotics conferences. In addition to her work at J.P. Morgan, she actively mentors young researchers and champions cross-sector collaboration in AI.
As Professor Chung noted in closing, "Dr. Zeng's visit shows what's possible when research, industry, and education come together. Our students have been studying and training AI models and agents, and it is rewarding to see how much they were able to engage in deep conversations with Dr. Zeng and raise critical questions.”