Morgan Stanley Co-President Says AI Gains Are Showing As Deal Backlog Holds Strong

Morgan Stanley co-president Dan Simkowitz said the bank is seeing productivity gains from artificial intelligence while its dealmaking backlog remains strong, according to CNBC and Bloomberg coverage published May 4. His comments, made during interviews tied to the Milken Institute Global Conference, linked two themes finance executives are weighing in 2026: whether mergers and acquisitions accelerate and whether AI adoption is producing measurable gains inside major firms.

The Details

Bloomberg Tech published a May 4 interview with Simkowitz focused on artificial intelligence, financing and a possible resurgence in mergers and acquisitions. Bloomberg's related reporting said companies are still seeking to strike deals, with pent-up demand, a focus on gaining scale and a more conducive regulatory environment supporting merger activity.

In Bloomberg's account, Simkowitz said Morgan Stanley's dealmaking backlogs remain very strong. The Bloomberg reporting centered on the state of the bank's pipeline at a moment when companies are still looking for transactions after a slower period for deal activity.

Reuters reporting carried by MarketScreener quoted Simkowitz saying Morgan Stanley sees an M&A wave coming. In the same Reuters account, he said financing that wave could create alpha for financiers, particularly while markets are focused on noise around private credit.

"I would say we think the noise is overdone in private credit, but that will create an opportunity," Simkowitz said, according to Reuters via MarketScreener. "There is an M&A wave coming. The financing of that M&A wave, especially given some of the noise, is going to enable some alpha to be generated by being the financier into that M&A market."

The private credit comments put Simkowitz's M&A view alongside a broader financing debate at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills. Reuters via MarketScreener reported that global finance leaders at the conference were discussing shifting capital flows, AI's impact and private credit risks and opportunities.

Simkowitz also addressed artificial intelligence in a CNBC interview clip published May 4. CNBC framed the interview around AI's impact inside Morgan Stanley and broader technology themes, quoting Simkowitz as saying, "We're seeing productivity gains from AI."

Taken together, the sourced record shows Simkowitz presenting Morgan Stanley as a firm watching both sides of the same operating environment: clients that are still pursuing transactions and banks that are testing whether AI tools can improve productivity. Bloomberg, CNBC and Reuters each covered different parts of those remarks, with Bloomberg emphasizing deal backlogs, CNBC emphasizing AI productivity and Reuters via MarketScreener emphasizing financing conditions around a possible M&A wave.

Context

The comments came during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, according to Reuters via MarketScreener. The conference coverage placed Simkowitz among finance executives discussing dealmaking conditions, capital flows, artificial intelligence and private credit.

Bloomberg's reporting said companies are still seeking to strike deals and identified pent-up demand, a focus on scale and a more conducive regulatory environment as factors supporting mergers and acquisitions. That context is the basis for the strong-backlog framing in Bloomberg's coverage of Simkowitz's remarks.

CNBC's interview clip placed the AI portion of the discussion inside Morgan Stanley's own operations and broader technology themes. The briefed record supports a narrower point: Simkowitz said Morgan Stanley is seeing productivity gains from AI, but it does not provide specific internal metrics, named AI tools or transaction-level effects.

What's Next

The immediate next step in the sourced record is continued monitoring of Morgan Stanley's deal pipeline through the indicators Simkowitz discussed: backlog strength, client demand for scale and financing conditions around private credit. Bloomberg reported that deal backlogs are still very strong, while Reuters via MarketScreener quoted Simkowitz saying financing an M&A wave could create opportunity for financiers.

For AI, the sourced record points to productivity rather than a specific product rollout or forecast. CNBC quoted Simkowitz saying Morgan Stanley is seeing productivity gains from AI, but the available brief does not include figures, implementation timelines or named systems, so the publish-safe framing stops at the productivity claim he made publicly.