The latest edition of i.Talks Técnico–BNP Paribas brought together Técnico professors and researchers with BNP Paribas teams, in a meeting that focused on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to macroeconomic analysis, climate risks, and the functioning of financial markets. The session took place at Técnico – Alameda campus on the morning of 19 November.
BNP Paribas representative Tiago Santos highlighted the importance of bringing academic research closer to the concrete challenges of the financial sector, particularly relating to digital transformation and the adoption of AI solutions.
Presentations in the first panel emphasised the link between macroeconomic analysis, climate risk, and artificial intelligence. Marta Ferraz (BNP Paribas) presented “Unexpected losses, from macroeconomics to Climate impact and the potential usage of AI”, discussing how AI can support the identification and anticipation of unexpected losses in a context of macroeconomic uncertainty and climate change. This was followed by Francisco Blasques (Técnico/ Center for Computational and Stochastic Mathematics – CEMAT), with “Early Warning Systems for Macroeconomic Risk & AI-Driven Market Analysis”, focused on early-warning systems for macroeconomic risks supported by AI models. The panel concluded with Pedro Santos (Técnico / Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores – Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Lisboa – INESC-ID), who presented “LisHab – Multi-agent simulation of the Lisbon Housing Market”, a multi-agent simulation model dedicated to Lisbon’s housing market and associated urban dynamics, developed as part of a Master’s thesis at Técnico.
The second panel, dedicated to AI applications in financial and educational contexts, as well as computational efficiency challenges, began with Manuel Coimbra (BNP Paribas), who presented “ModernBERT For Chat2Trade”, exploring the potential of state-of-the-art language models to support decision-making in trading environments. Miguel Mira da Silva (iNOV-Lab) shared the “AI Tutor” project, which can contribute to scalable processes aligned with the needs of a rapidly changing labour market. Nuno Lopes (Técnico / INESC-ID) then addressed the topic “Low-latency & Efficient AI”, focusing on the design of AI solutions with low latency and high efficiency, critical aspects for real-time financial applications.
