Morgan Stanley to let client AI agents access stock plan platforms
CNBC reported the bank is preparing outside AI-agent access to ShareWorks and Equity Edge for corporate stock-plan clients.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Morgan Stanley plans to let outside artificial intelligence agents connect directly to its stock-plan administration systems, CNBC reported. The change could put AI tools between corporate clients and a business that feeds Morgan Stanley’s wealth management division.
The access will cover ShareWorks and Equity Edge, the platforms Morgan Stanley uses to help companies manage employee stock compensation, according to CNBC. Mark Mitchell, chief product officer of Morgan Stanley at Work, told CNBC that clients’ AI agents will be able to retrieve data and insights from those systems without using the software screens built for people.
Morgan Stanley has already allowed a small group of clients to try agent-based access, Mitchell told CNBC. The bank plans to extend the option to its 3,400 stock-plan administration clients by next year, according to the report.
AI access for corporate clients
Mitchell told CNBC that Morgan Stanley expects some corporate clients to work through AI tools on their own desktops rather than signing into ShareWorks or Equity Edge. He said the bank sees a future in which those tools interact with Morgan Stanley’s platforms on behalf of users.
The pitch is aimed partly at fast-growing technology and biotech companies, Mitchell told CNBC. He said those firms face more complicated stock plans and want to manage them without adding more employees in support functions such as human resources.
Mitchell also said Morgan Stanley sees similar benefits inside its own operations, according to CNBC. He said agentic AI could help the firm expand customer support, stock-plan administration and the path from workplace accounts into wealth management without hiring “thousands and thousands” of additional workers.
A channel into wealth management
CNBC reported that Morgan Stanley’s workplace strategy has become a major entry point for its wealth business. In April, Morgan Stanley executives attributed $1.2 trillion in gathered assets to that strategy, according to CNBC.
The bank’s wealth management division has $7.35 trillion in client assets, making it the world’s largest, CNBC reported. Morgan Stanley built the stock-plan business through its 2019 purchase of Solium Capital and its 2020 acquisition of E-Trade.
The combined business serves nearly half of the companies in the S&P 500 and eight of the 10 largest unicorn startups, Morgan Stanley has said, according to CNBC. By managing employee stock plans, the firm can reach workers who may later become advisory clients as their wealth increases.
Wall Street tests agents
CNBC reported that JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are using AI agents internally for work such as writing code. Those banks have not publicly announced similar plans to let outside agents connect directly to their systems, according to CNBC.
For the new access, Morgan Stanley is using the Model Context Protocol, an open-source standard that lets AI models connect with data sources, CNBC reported. Mitchell told CNBC that the bank’s value rests in its proprietary data and business logic, even if clients no longer enter through the firm’s traditional websites.
Morgan Stanley began working with OpenAI in 2022, according to CNBC. Mitchell told the network that the bank is not worried about clients bypassing the web interfaces because it expects AI agents to become a main way users interact with software.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.