New York-based AI startup Mosaic is trying to create a new kind of Wall Street: one with humane hours, where all-nighters no longer need to exist.
Mosaic has created software that does the grunt work of building financial models — a laborious task with complicated calculations that, for eons, has been done by junior banker. Now, they can just enter key numbers and the software does the heavy lifting of making financial projections and forecasting a company’s future.
“The only way to really reduce the actual work is through technology,” Mosaic founder and CEO Ian Gutwinski told NYNext. “Our technology takes more than 14 hours of work… and squishes it down into 15 minutes.”
But Gutwinksi, 35, is quick to reject the idea that this paves the way for eliminating human jobs. He believes the software this will increase worker productivity and satisfaction — and the overall volume of deals bankers can complete.
“What we do is automate the lower value-added stuff. A portion of the time that you’re spending doing this is not on the actual high mental horsepower elements of the job,” he said. “It’s on formatting different PowerPoint presentation. That’s not high value.”
And Gutwinksi is eager to highlight anecdotes about how the tool is already changing lives in finance.
“I’ve had someone send me an email saying that they built one of our models from the delivery room where their wife was giving birth,” he said.
Gutwinski got another email from someone who “wouldn’t have had a Thanksgiving weekend if they didn’t have access to Mosaic … a deal came in the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and it would have taken the entire weekend if it wasn’t for Mosaic.
“People work nonstop in this industry, and anything you can do to shave off seconds from their day is extremely, extremely helpful,” he adds.
And it’s coming as Wall Street grapples with its brutal work culture. The tragic death last year of former Green Beret and Bank of America analyst Leo Lukenas — who died of a blood clot while working 110-hour weeks — became a flashpoint as many bankers saw similarities to their own experience.
The Post previously reported that senior management at major firms don’t respect younger employees’ time, which can lead to 100-hour work weeks and just a few hours of sleep each night.
“It is an apprenticeship business. And there is this [management-level] feeling of, I had to do it one way when I was growing up in the ranks — so the junior folks have to, too,” Gutwinski said of Wall Street culture.
Of course, Wall Street has seen a number of advancements in technology over the years — with little to no change to the culture.
Gutwinski himself is a Wall Street veteran who started his career in Canada, working the grueling hours of a junior analyst. He moved to New York in 2014 but took a hiatus to attend Harvard Business School, where he taught himself to code and created an early version of Mosaic for a class project.
After graduating in 2021, a boss at his former employer, Onex, encouraged Gutwinski to keep building Mosaic rather than return to private equity — and purchased the software to use at Onex.
Gutwinksi moved back to Manhattan to keep building the company mainly because of the accessibility it provides. “We’re a 10-minute walk away from our 10 largest customers,” he said. “I don’t think this business would be what it is anywhere else in the world.”
While the technology was created to help those in private equity (Gutwinski’s own background is in PE), bulge bracket investment banks have also been exploring how to implement the technology. Gutwinski said we can expect announcements from major firms over the next few months.
Private equity funds Warburg, CVC, New Mountain and Bridgepoint are all clients.
He admitted that many coders are more attracted to building consumer-facing apps or taking a cushy job at a major tech company than working on niche technology that will be used by a small number of junior employees.
But, as 2025 begins, he said he’s already seen an uptick in interest as Wall Street prepares for what will be a booming new year with huge business, “Everyone is back from the holidays and they’re expecting deal volume to increase,” he explained.
While Gutwinski isn’t so naive to think Wall Street will change on a dime, he is optimistic that his company can help it evolve.
“Like any technology, there’s an adoption curve … ,” he said. “But ultimately, this is going to be the way that people are doing this in the future.”
This story is part of NYNext, a new editorial series that highlights New York City innovation across industries, as well as the personalities leading the way.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
