Stanford Engineering
Advanced Financial Technologies Laboratory

Industrial Affiliate Program

The AFTLab Industrial Affiliate Program gives companies and other organizations a way to engage with the faculty and students of the Lab and to follow research on AI in finance and financial technology as it develops.

The program is one of the Industrial Affiliate Programs of Stanford University. These programs offer an open environment in which university researchers and members discuss pre-competitive research and teaching in a field of mutual interest. Member companies in the AFTLab Industrial Affiliate Program share an interest in the research and educational activities of the Lab. The program is designed to foster a productive relationship between academia and industry.

Research focus

The program covers the research areas of the Lab, which are described on the Research page.

Participating faculty

Markus Pelger (Faculty Director), Jose Blanchet, Peter Glynn, Gerd Infanger, Ruizhe Jia, Renyuan Xu and Yinyu Ye. More information is on the People page.

Open research

The faculty of the Lab select the research topics and direct the research of the program. Members are welcome to suggest topics. The results of the research are made available to members and to the public in an open and timely manner. As in all Industrial Affiliate Programs of Stanford University, membership does not include a commitment to conduct a specific research project and does not provide rights to intellectual property. Research with a more specific direction is arranged separately, through a sponsored research agreement or a gift.

Member benefits

Membership in the AFTLab Industrial Affiliate Program will facilitate communication and participation between Stanford University and members as follows:

  • Member companies will be invited to attend AFTLab events, including the AFTLab Seminar series, the AI in Fintech Forum, and doctoral student research talks.

  • Member companies will be named as affiliate program members with a dedicated table at the annual AI in Fintech Forum.

  • Member companies can send a visitor to the Lab. The visitor will be subject to the Stanford policies regarding Visiting Scholars, in effect as of the date such Visiting Scholar is designated.

  • Member companies will have opportunities to learn about research ideas and results in progress. Data and information resulting from AFTLab research will be shared with all affiliate program members and the general public. Stanford retains first rights to publish such data and information.

  • Member companies will have opportunities to directly interface with AFTLab faculty, postdocs, and students. Members may receive preprints and reprints of copies of (or access to) research reports, papers and other publications originated by faculty and students associated with the AFTLab.

  • Member companies will have an opportunity to recruit students for summer internships as well as full time employment after graduation.

  • Member companies will be invited to executive visits on campus.

Membership

Membership is open to all companies and organizations that are prepared to meet the obligations of membership. The Industrial Affiliate Program is supported by membership fees of $175,000 per year. These funds support research and facilitate the exploration of innovative ideas. Membership fees provide unrestricted support for the research, teaching and administrative activities of the Lab. Each member signs a membership agreement with Stanford University.

Additional funding

Member companies may provide additional funding above the membership fees to support an area of ongoing research being conducted by AFTLab. All research results arising from the use of the additional funding will be shared with all AFTLab members and the public. A member may request that the additional funding go to support a particular area of AFTLab research, or that the additional funding be used for AFTLab research in a specific faculty laboratory, as long as the faculty is identified as participating in AFTLab. In either instance, the faculty director of AFTLab determines how the additional funds will be used in AFTLab research.

All research presentations or materials shared with one member will be made available to other members and the public upon request.

Research results and open source software

This program is governed by Stanford University's published policies on research and treatment of research results. The Advanced Financial Technologies Laboratory Affiliates Program will use and develop open-source software, and it is the intention of Advanced Financial Technologies Laboratory Affiliates Program that any software will be released under an open source model.

Stanford policies

Members and sponsors over the years

Over the years the research and the events of the Lab have been supported by members and sponsors that include BBVA, Bloomberg, China Merchants Bank, Credit Plus AI, EMQQ, NatWest Group (RBS), Sea, State Street, Swiss Re, US Bank and Vanguard.

Contact

For more information, please contact Markus Pelger, Faculty Director, mpelger@stanford.edu. We are glad to discuss how the research interests of your organization relate to the work of the Lab.