About the Role:
We are seeking an AI Enablement Lead to directly drive the practical application of AI across our Institutional Equities and Research (IER) business. This role is focused on hands-on identification, prototyping, and delivery of high-impact AI use cases that improve how work gets done across Equity Research, Institutional Sales, Institutional Trading, and Corporate Access.
Working closely with IER technology product management, business leaders, end users, and IT partners, this individual will translate opportunities into working solutions that deliver measurable results. Success in this role will come from getting embedded with the business and personally using AI technologies to build, test, and scale real use cases that create visible value and generate pull across the platform.
The role requires balancing experimentation with focus, ensuring efforts translate into practical outcomes that drive productivity, insight, and revenue. This role is highly collaborative and in-person, requiring regular engagement with teams across Research, Sales, and Trading. The individual will report to the Head of Global Equities and is based in our downtown Milwaukee office.
Baird is an employee-owned firm with a long-standing culture of collaboration, partnership, and long-term thinking. That model allows us to move quickly, work directly across teams, and focus on building solutions that are practical, trusted, and actually used.
The Impact You’ll Make:
Hands-On AI Enablement & Delivery
Work directly with Equity Research, Institutional Sales, Trading, and Corporate Access teams to identify, build, test, and scale high-impact AI use cases
Personally prototype and deliver solutions using M365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, ChatGPT, Claude, and agent-based AI frameworks
Practical AI Application & Fluency
Apply generative and agentic AI to real workflows, including research production, content creation, client insights, idea generation, and decision support
Translate AI capabilities and limitations into clear, actionable business value for end users and leaders
Education, Enablement & Adoption
Embed with teams to understand how work gets done, surface opportunities, and drive adoption through delivered solutions
Act as a hands-on resource for teams applying AI to their day-to-day work
AI Solution Delivery & Execution
Rapidly test ideas, gather feedback, iterate, and scale successful use cases in partnership with technology teams
Maintain focus and prioritization to ensure efforts drive measurable productivity, revenue, and adoption outcomes
Strategic Leadership & Vision
Set and communicate a clear, practical vision for how AI is applied across IER, grounded in real workflows and business priorities
Continuously explore emerging AI capabilities and identify the highest-impact opportunities across Research, Sales, Trading, and Corporate Access
What You’ll Bring to Baird:
3–7 years of professional experience, including hands-on application of AI in a business environment
Demonstrated experience building, prototyping, or implementing AI-enabled solutions used in real workflows in a professional setting
Strong working knowledge of generative AI, agentic concepts, and enterprise AI tools (e.g., M365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, ChatGPT, Claude)
High degree of curiosity and motivation to continuously explore new AI capabilities and practical applications
Comfort experimenting, iterating, and learning by doing rather than operating only at a conceptual level
Experience in equity research, institutional sales, trading, or a related financial domain preferred, or the ability to quickly learn complex workflows
Proven ability to work directly with end users to deliver practical, high-impact solutions
Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to engage technical and non-technical audiences
Bias toward action, ownership, and delivering tangible results
Passion for applying AI to solve real business problems and improve how work gets done
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Computer Science, Data Science, or a related field required
Why This Role:
This is a unique opportunity to sit at the intersection of AI and the front lines of the Institutional Equities business with direct access to senior leaders and end users. You will be expected to turn ideas into working solutions that are used day-to-day across Research, Sales, and Trading.
This is not a role focused on writing strategy documents or advising from the sidelines. You will be building, testing, and scaling solutions that directly impact how work gets done.
You will have the autonomy to experiment and the expectation to deliver real solutions that drive revenue and efficiency. Success will come from creating solutions that people actively choose to use, not from mandates or top-down direction.
#LI-KC1
Baird is committed to diversity and provides employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, citizenship, national origin, age, disability, military service, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, or any other status protected by law.
Skills Required
- 3-7 years of professional experience
- Hands-on application of AI in a business environment
- Experience building, prototyping, or implementing AI-enabled solutions
- Strong knowledge of generative AI, agentic concepts, and enterprise AI tools
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Computer Science, Data Science, or a related field
Baird Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Baird and has not been reviewed or approved by Baird.
-
Retirement Support — Retirement offerings are positioned as a major strength, including a strong 401(k) with matching and profit-sharing contributions, plus access to financial planning support. Long-term wealth building is further reinforced through employee ownership and stock purchase opportunities.
-
Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off benefits are framed as generous, including unlimited PTO in some descriptions, paid holidays, and paid volunteer time. Flex time and work-from-home options are also included as part of the broader work-life package.
-
Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is described as comprehensive, spanning medical, dental, vision, and mental health support, alongside wellness programs and HSA/FSA options. Preventive care and employer contributions toward HSA/deductibles are highlighted as part of the design.
Baird Insights
What We Do
Founded in 1919, Baird has guided families, businesses, communities and institutions toward their financial goals for a century. Today employee-owned Baird offers wealth management, investment banking, asset management, institutional sales and trading, equity research, public finance and private equity services through more than 160 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Baird manages and oversees more than $305 billion in assets for clients around the world and employs more than 4,600 associates. Baird has been one of FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For® since 2004, and is committed to policies and practices that provide equal employment opportunity at all times. These non-discriminatory practices apply to all areas of employment including: hiring, promotions, terminations, compensation, benefits and educational opportunities. “Baird” is the marketing name for Robert W. Baird & Co., Incorporated and subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide. For more information, please visit www.rwbaird.com.
