Advanced Financial Technologies Laboratory
AI in Finance and FinTech at Stanford
The Stanford Advanced Financial Technologies Laboratory (AFTLab) is the home of research and education on AI in finance and financial technology at Stanford. Our faculty and doctoral students develop the models, statistical methods and algorithms that make AI reliable in financial markets.
The Lab is part of the Department of Management Science and Engineering in the Stanford School of Engineering. It brings together expertise in machine learning, statistics, stochastic modeling, optimization and financial economics. Our research appears in the leading journals of finance, econometrics and operations research and at the leading machine learning conferences, and it is shared openly.
Research areas
Our work is organized in six areas. Each area combines new methods with a careful understanding of financial markets.
Generative AI, Language Models and AI Agents in Finance
Generative models for financial data, valid statistics with AI-generated data, and AI agents for financial decisions.
Robust Decisions, Risk and Simulation
Distributionally robust optimization, optimal transport, stochastic simulation and large-scale optimization.
Upcoming events
News
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Markus Pelger chairs the invited panel Emergent AI for Finance: Beyond LLMs at the AFA 2027 meeting
Oct 5, 2026The panel at the Annual Meeting of the American Finance Association in Washington on January 3, 2027 brings together Jianqing Fan, Anton Korinek, Stefan Nagel and Laura Veldkamp. -
Autumn 2026 at the AFTLab: seminars, ABFR webinars and the PhD student workshop
Oct 5, 2026The AFTLab Seminar meets on Thursdays from 5:00 to 6:00 pm. The PhD Student Research Workshop takes place on Friday, December 4. -
Doctoral student Chartsiri Jirachotkulthorn publishes in PNAS
Sep 23, 2026The paper AICO: Feature Significance Tests for Supervised Learning by Kay Giesecke, Enguerrand Horel and Chartsiri Jirachotkulthorn appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
About the Lab
The financial sector is being transformed by data and artificial intelligence. The AFTLab pioneers financial models, statistical and machine learning tools, computational algorithms and software to address the challenges that arise in this context.
The faculty and doctoral students of the Lab combine expertise in machine learning, stochastics, optimization, data science and algorithms with a deep understanding of financial markets and institutions. The Lab promotes approaches that draw from finance, economics, operations research, statistics, computational mathematics and computer science.
The Lab is directed by Markus Pelger, Associate Professor of Management Science and Engineering.
Companies and other organizations can engage with the Lab through its Industrial Affiliate Program.
Stay informed
Announcements of seminars and events are sent to the AFTLab mailing list. The monthly ABFR webinar is online and open to everyone.