WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.500 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.500 --> 00:00:02.224 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:00:02.224 --> 00:00:02.724 align:middle line:90% 00:00:02.724 --> 00:00:05.250 align:middle line:84% GARY GENSLER: We can use technology 00:00:05.250 --> 00:00:08.010 align:middle line:84% to make finance more inclusive and more 00:00:08.010 --> 00:00:11.520 align:middle line:84% accessible to many more millions of people in our country 00:00:11.520 --> 00:00:13.050 align:middle line:84% and many more hundreds of millions 00:00:13.050 --> 00:00:16.455 align:middle line:90% of people around the globe. 00:00:16.455 --> 00:00:20.420 align:middle line:84% SARAH HANSEN: Today on Chalk Radio, modern money. 00:00:20.420 --> 00:00:24.600 align:middle line:84% In this episode, we're taking a look at 15.S08 FinTech: 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:26.730 align:middle line:90% Shaping the Financial World. 00:00:26.730 --> 00:00:28.590 align:middle line:84% This is a course, about money and how 00:00:28.590 --> 00:00:32.280 align:middle line:84% it works in a constantly changing digital environment. 00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:34.020 align:middle line:84% GARY GENSLER: My research and teaching 00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:39.390 align:middle line:84% is all about the intersection between finance and technology. 00:00:39.390 --> 00:00:42.996 align:middle line:84% And what better place to do it but at MIT? 00:00:42.996 --> 00:00:46.260 align:middle line:84% SARAH HANSEN: Our guest today is Professor Gary Gensler. 00:00:46.260 --> 00:00:49.320 align:middle line:84% He co-directs MIT's FinTech@CSAIL, 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:53.040 align:middle line:84% which stands for Computer Science and AI Lab. 00:00:53.040 --> 00:00:56.190 align:middle line:84% Professor Gensler has a unique perspective 00:00:56.190 --> 00:01:00.240 align:middle line:84% in that he's teaching a subject that's continuously evolving. 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:02.640 align:middle line:84% So how does an educator teach something that 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:06.220 align:middle line:90% changes so much and so rapidly? 00:01:06.220 --> 00:01:08.020 align:middle line:84% How do you prepare students to work 00:01:08.020 --> 00:01:10.300 align:middle line:84% in a new and, oftentimes, vastly different 00:01:10.300 --> 00:01:15.400 align:middle line:84% context, one that literally might not even exist yet? 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:17.380 align:middle line:84% But before we dive into all of that, 00:01:17.380 --> 00:01:20.780 align:middle line:84% we first have to understand, what is FinTech? 00:01:20.780 --> 00:01:22.780 align:middle line:84% GARY GENSLER: This term, FinTech, 00:01:22.780 --> 00:01:26.970 align:middle line:84% which came about in the last 20 or so years, 00:01:26.970 --> 00:01:30.300 align:middle line:84% can mean different things to different folks. 00:01:30.300 --> 00:01:34.650 align:middle line:84% For me, I think of it as how is finance changing 00:01:34.650 --> 00:01:36.180 align:middle line:90% due to new technologies? 00:01:36.180 --> 00:01:38.610 align:middle line:84% And the original FinTech was money 00:01:38.610 --> 00:01:42.210 align:middle line:84% itself invented thousands of years ago by humans. 00:01:42.210 --> 00:01:45.420 align:middle line:84% But usually, a lot of folks these days 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:48.810 align:middle line:84% will call FinTech the companies that 00:01:48.810 --> 00:01:51.870 align:middle line:84% are disrupting the world of finance using machine 00:01:51.870 --> 00:01:56.730 align:middle line:84% learning or using something called blockchain technology. 00:01:56.730 --> 00:01:59.970 align:middle line:84% But 20 years ago, it would be correct to say 00:01:59.970 --> 00:02:03.630 align:middle line:84% that what technology was disrupting finance more 00:02:03.630 --> 00:02:06.410 align:middle line:84% than anything else was the internet. 00:02:06.410 --> 00:02:08.960 align:middle line:84% And 10 or 15 years ago, the technology 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:11.870 align:middle line:84% that was disrupting finance the most 00:02:11.870 --> 00:02:14.930 align:middle line:90% was mobile phones and cloud. 00:02:14.930 --> 00:02:18.710 align:middle line:84% And so I teach it from a broader view 00:02:18.710 --> 00:02:22.070 align:middle line:84% and try to prepare students with this concept, 00:02:22.070 --> 00:02:24.980 align:middle line:84% so they're ready for the 2030s and the 2040s. 00:02:24.980 --> 00:02:29.760 align:middle line:84% What technologies then will be highly disruptive in finance? 00:02:29.760 --> 00:02:32.300 align:middle line:84% It's really about how technology is changing 00:02:32.300 --> 00:02:35.090 align:middle line:84% the world of finance and has for centuries 00:02:35.090 --> 00:02:37.730 align:middle line:90% and will for centuries to come. 00:02:37.730 --> 00:02:39.200 align:middle line:84% And right now, we're living through 00:02:39.200 --> 00:02:43.980 align:middle line:84% this transitional period of machine learning, 00:02:43.980 --> 00:02:46.670 align:middle line:84% artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, 00:02:46.670 --> 00:02:48.510 align:middle line:90% blockchain technology. 00:02:48.510 --> 00:02:52.160 align:middle line:84% In a decade from now, it will be some other transition. 00:02:52.160 --> 00:02:55.040 align:middle line:84% And so I really try to engage the students 00:02:55.040 --> 00:02:58.910 align:middle line:84% on what that means, what those big technology movements mean 00:02:58.910 --> 00:03:02.540 align:middle line:84% as they come into the technology stack, 00:03:02.540 --> 00:03:04.330 align:middle line:84% and then they just become accepted. 00:03:04.330 --> 00:03:06.194 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:03:06.194 --> 00:03:08.058 align:middle line:90% 00:03:08.058 --> 00:03:10.450 align:middle line:84% SARAH HANSEN: In helping me understand what FinTech 00:03:10.450 --> 00:03:13.810 align:middle line:84% actually is, Professor Gensler made some really interesting 00:03:13.810 --> 00:03:16.690 align:middle line:84% observations about the way we use money now 00:03:16.690 --> 00:03:19.900 align:middle line:84% versus even just 10 years ago and what that implies 00:03:19.900 --> 00:03:21.420 align:middle line:90% about where we're headed. 00:03:21.420 --> 00:03:23.050 align:middle line:84% GARY GENSLER: That which we call money, 00:03:23.050 --> 00:03:25.360 align:middle line:84% that which Plato and Aristotle called money, 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:29.110 align:middle line:84% was just society's representation of something 00:03:29.110 --> 00:03:30.980 align:middle line:90% of value. 00:03:30.980 --> 00:03:34.220 align:middle line:84% But boy, in the 21st century, aren't we there-- 00:03:34.220 --> 00:03:37.130 align:middle line:84% that you can just wave your mobile phone, 00:03:37.130 --> 00:03:38.840 align:middle line:90% and you move value-- 00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:40.430 align:middle line:90% what we call money. 00:03:40.430 --> 00:03:43.670 align:middle line:84% The greatest changes of the early 2020s 00:03:43.670 --> 00:03:46.890 align:middle line:84% is about two forms of artificial intelligence. 00:03:46.890 --> 00:03:48.620 align:middle line:90% One is machine learning. 00:03:48.620 --> 00:03:51.520 align:middle line:84% Machine learning has a remarkable ability 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:53.930 align:middle line:84% to extract correlations in data where 00:03:53.930 --> 00:03:57.890 align:middle line:84% we couldn't find it earlier with earlier forms of math-- 00:03:57.890 --> 00:04:01.080 align:middle line:90% linear algebra and so forth. 00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:03.380 align:middle line:84% And the second form of artificial intelligence 00:04:03.380 --> 00:04:05.870 align:middle line:84% that's dramatically changing finance 00:04:05.870 --> 00:04:08.030 align:middle line:90% is natural language processing. 00:04:08.030 --> 00:04:09.170 align:middle line:90% What do these words mean? 00:04:09.170 --> 00:04:11.570 align:middle line:84% They're just kind of fancy words to say, 00:04:11.570 --> 00:04:16.100 align:middle line:84% can you move human language to computer language? 00:04:16.100 --> 00:04:17.630 align:middle line:90% And guess what? 00:04:17.630 --> 00:04:19.670 align:middle line:84% All day long, that's happening, and we're 00:04:19.670 --> 00:04:22.790 align:middle line:90% starting to get robo advice. 00:04:22.790 --> 00:04:28.730 align:middle line:84% And robo advisory platforms can deliver finance far more 00:04:28.730 --> 00:04:31.970 align:middle line:90% broadly to far more people. 00:04:31.970 --> 00:04:36.800 align:middle line:84% So Bank of America has its voice assistant, Erica. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:40.280 align:middle line:84% But millions of their customers are now using Erica-- 00:04:40.280 --> 00:04:44.000 align:middle line:84% [LAUGHS]---- to do modest transactions-- 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:47.250 align:middle line:84% move bank balances around, things like that. 00:04:47.250 --> 00:04:51.410 align:middle line:84% So we try, in the classroom, to think about this with students 00:04:51.410 --> 00:04:52.730 align:middle line:90% and sort of prepare them. 00:04:52.730 --> 00:04:54.230 align:middle line:90% What are the next technologies? 00:04:54.230 --> 00:04:56.630 align:middle line:84% Not just the technologies like machine learning 00:04:56.630 --> 00:04:58.400 align:middle line:84% and natural language processing, but what 00:04:58.400 --> 00:05:00.110 align:middle line:90% are the next technologies? 00:05:00.110 --> 00:05:03.470 align:middle line:84% And how do we think of entrepreneurial strategy-- 00:05:03.470 --> 00:05:08.090 align:middle line:84% how to think of the strategy to use new technologies to provide 00:05:08.090 --> 00:05:09.440 align:middle line:90% services. 00:05:09.440 --> 00:05:12.080 align:middle line:84% And then the classic way that you always 00:05:12.080 --> 00:05:14.450 align:middle line:84% have to think about as an entrepreneur-- 00:05:14.450 --> 00:05:17.960 align:middle line:84% how can you do something better, quicker, cheaper that's not 00:05:17.960 --> 00:05:20.366 align:middle line:90% been done today? 00:05:20.366 --> 00:05:22.198 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:05:22.198 --> 00:05:23.572 align:middle line:90% 00:05:23.572 --> 00:05:25.290 align:middle line:84% SARAH HANSEN: During my conversation 00:05:25.290 --> 00:05:27.930 align:middle line:84% with Professor Gensler, I began to realize 00:05:27.930 --> 00:05:32.130 align:middle line:84% how far-reaching the implications of FinTech can be. 00:05:32.130 --> 00:05:34.470 align:middle line:84% Expanding access to financial literacy 00:05:34.470 --> 00:05:37.890 align:middle line:84% is a really important outcome that drives his teaching 00:05:37.890 --> 00:05:39.615 align:middle line:90% and his passion for the work. 00:05:39.615 --> 00:05:41.610 align:middle line:84% GARY GENSLER: What I was drawn to MIT 00:05:41.610 --> 00:05:46.140 align:middle line:84% about was this sense that maybe we could democratize capitalism 00:05:46.140 --> 00:05:51.420 align:middle line:84% a bit more, that we can use technology 00:05:51.420 --> 00:05:54.180 align:middle line:84% to make finance more inclusive and more 00:05:54.180 --> 00:05:57.720 align:middle line:84% accessible to many more millions of people in our country 00:05:57.720 --> 00:05:59.220 align:middle line:84% and many more hundreds of millions 00:05:59.220 --> 00:06:01.230 align:middle line:90% of people around the globe. 00:06:01.230 --> 00:06:05.190 align:middle line:84% New technologies come along every decade or so, 00:06:05.190 --> 00:06:08.610 align:middle line:84% and then they disrupt the status quo. 00:06:08.610 --> 00:06:10.740 align:middle line:84% And what's really exciting is, at MIT, 00:06:10.740 --> 00:06:14.200 align:middle line:84% we're at the forefront of those new technologies. 00:06:14.200 --> 00:06:18.300 align:middle line:84% And we can bring those practices, those new practices, 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:19.920 align:middle line:84% into the classroom and say, well, now 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:21.780 align:middle line:90% what's this doing to finance? 00:06:21.780 --> 00:06:26.760 align:middle line:84% What does it mean that a big technology company is starting 00:06:26.760 --> 00:06:29.160 align:middle line:90% to have a credit card, maybe? 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:32.460 align:middle line:84% What does it mean that Apple credit card exists, or Facebook 00:06:32.460 --> 00:06:36.210 align:middle line:84% wants to have a worldwide currency called Libra 00:06:36.210 --> 00:06:40.740 align:middle line:84% or that we might provide insurance that's 00:06:40.740 --> 00:06:44.940 align:middle line:84% going to be measuring our Fitbits 00:06:44.940 --> 00:06:49.980 align:middle line:84% or watches or our mobile devices as to whether we're healthy 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:51.681 align:middle line:90% or not? 00:06:51.681 --> 00:06:55.080 align:middle line:84% SARAH HANSEN: Students from all areas of MIT's Sloan School 00:06:55.080 --> 00:06:57.660 align:middle line:84% of Management, and even students registered 00:06:57.660 --> 00:07:00.840 align:middle line:84% from other schools, flock to Professor Gensler's class 00:07:00.840 --> 00:07:03.920 align:middle line:84% to learn more about what the future of finance looks like 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:05.490 align:middle line:84% and how they might help shape it. 00:07:05.490 --> 00:07:08.460 align:middle line:84% GARY GENSLER: Students come into this class 00:07:08.460 --> 00:07:09.960 align:middle line:90% for multiple purposes. 00:07:09.960 --> 00:07:16.110 align:middle line:84% But I'd say the majority are really interested how 00:07:16.110 --> 00:07:19.440 align:middle line:84% these new technologies might be disrupting 00:07:19.440 --> 00:07:21.510 align:middle line:90% a big part of an economy. 00:07:21.510 --> 00:07:24.390 align:middle line:84% And the students are from all over the globe. 00:07:24.390 --> 00:07:28.580 align:middle line:84% And dominantly, they're thinking about, 00:07:28.580 --> 00:07:30.470 align:middle line:84% I want to understand how this technology is 00:07:30.470 --> 00:07:33.080 align:middle line:90% disrupting finance. 00:07:33.080 --> 00:07:39.140 align:middle line:84% So I asked all the students to write a memo, a clearly worded 00:07:39.140 --> 00:07:41.180 align:middle line:90% recommendation memo. 00:07:41.180 --> 00:07:45.200 align:middle line:84% But their recommendation-- they can pick one of three CEOs-- 00:07:45.200 --> 00:07:49.040 align:middle line:84% Jeff Bezos of Amazon; Brian Moynihan, 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:52.050 align:middle line:84% who runs Bank of America; or Mark Andreessen, 00:07:52.050 --> 00:07:55.838 align:middle line:84% who runs a big venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz. 00:07:55.838 --> 00:07:57.380 align:middle line:84% And I said, you pick whether you want 00:07:57.380 --> 00:08:00.500 align:middle line:84% to write about the provision of credit, 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:03.470 align:middle line:84% the provision of credit cards, the provision of automobile 00:08:03.470 --> 00:08:05.270 align:middle line:84% insurance, the provision of mortgages. 00:08:05.270 --> 00:08:09.410 align:middle line:84% You pick whatever you want to pick in finance, 00:08:09.410 --> 00:08:12.260 align:middle line:84% but you have to write a CEO recommendation 00:08:12.260 --> 00:08:15.590 align:middle line:84% memo with a clearly stated recommendation to Amazon, 00:08:15.590 --> 00:08:18.560 align:middle line:84% Bank of America, or Andreessen Horowitz. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:21.290 align:middle line:84% And a little over half the students picked Amazon. 00:08:21.290 --> 00:08:24.530 align:middle line:84% They were all really interesting memos to read. 00:08:24.530 --> 00:08:26.330 align:middle line:90% And the students engage. 00:08:26.330 --> 00:08:29.480 align:middle line:84% They engage because there's tremendous benefit 00:08:29.480 --> 00:08:34.340 align:middle line:84% to giving students a real live thing to address. 00:08:34.340 --> 00:08:37.190 align:middle line:84% It's a real live thing where I say, listen, 00:08:37.190 --> 00:08:40.220 align:middle line:84% if this is a great memo, I'll figure out the way 00:08:40.220 --> 00:08:42.030 align:middle line:90% to get it to Jeff Bezos. 00:08:42.030 --> 00:08:44.390 align:middle line:84% I'll figure out the way to get it to Brian Moynihan. 00:08:44.390 --> 00:08:47.980 align:middle line:84% And the students believe me because I could get 00:08:47.980 --> 00:08:50.000 align:middle line:90% a really great memo to them. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:53.000 align:middle line:84% Some students will say, can I write it to somebody in Brazil 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:53.500 align:middle line:90% instead? 00:08:53.500 --> 00:08:56.230 align:middle line:90% And I always say yes. 00:08:56.230 --> 00:09:01.820 align:middle line:84% Had a great memo to the CEO of Tencent, the big technology 00:09:01.820 --> 00:09:03.440 align:middle line:90% network in China. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:06.140 align:middle line:84% And it was one of the best memos this group of students 00:09:06.140 --> 00:09:07.400 align:middle line:90% put together. 00:09:07.400 --> 00:09:11.270 align:middle line:84% I would say to other educators, trust the students. 00:09:11.270 --> 00:09:16.625 align:middle line:84% If you give them a little bit of an open-ended prompt like this, 00:09:16.625 --> 00:09:19.450 align:middle line:84% a big majority will rise to the occasion. 00:09:19.450 --> 00:09:22.580 align:middle line:84% SARAH HANSEN: As is the case with most things nowadays, 00:09:22.580 --> 00:09:25.730 align:middle line:84% Professor Gensler's course is formatted a little differently 00:09:25.730 --> 00:09:27.790 align:middle line:90% in the time of COVID-19. 00:09:27.790 --> 00:09:30.260 align:middle line:84% But he's seen some pretty remarkable results 00:09:30.260 --> 00:09:32.930 align:middle line:84% at achieving some semblance of normalcy 00:09:32.930 --> 00:09:34.580 align:middle line:90% in his new class format. 00:09:34.580 --> 00:09:36.800 align:middle line:84% GARY GENSLER: We're in very unusual times-- 00:09:36.800 --> 00:09:39.770 align:middle line:84% that those of us who learned our teaching 00:09:39.770 --> 00:09:42.650 align:middle line:84% skills in the classroom with anywhere 00:09:42.650 --> 00:09:46.820 align:middle line:84% from 15 to 100 students in the class, 00:09:46.820 --> 00:09:51.540 align:middle line:84% that you are all having a shared experience. 00:09:51.540 --> 00:09:56.870 align:middle line:84% All of a sudden, with a snap of a finger, we're online. 00:09:56.870 --> 00:10:00.950 align:middle line:84% Most of us at Sloan felt it was really important to keep 00:10:00.950 --> 00:10:02.700 align:middle line:90% some sense of community. 00:10:02.700 --> 00:10:08.330 align:middle line:84% And so when I started the first class online, 00:10:08.330 --> 00:10:11.480 align:middle line:90% I asked all the students-- 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:18.170 align:middle line:84% those that could-- to listen together synchronously. 00:10:18.170 --> 00:10:22.070 align:middle line:84% And so this class was taught at 8:30 to 10:00 AM 00:10:22.070 --> 00:10:24.420 align:middle line:90% on Monday and Wednesday. 00:10:24.420 --> 00:10:26.750 align:middle line:84% And so for many time zones, it worked. 00:10:26.750 --> 00:10:28.760 align:middle line:84% But did it really work for somebody sitting 00:10:28.760 --> 00:10:31.880 align:middle line:90% in Europe who had flown back? 00:10:31.880 --> 00:10:36.290 align:middle line:84% So we did record it, but we got about 85% to 90% 00:10:36.290 --> 00:10:39.260 align:middle line:84% of the students tying in synchronously. 00:10:39.260 --> 00:10:41.330 align:middle line:84% And I felt it was not only important 00:10:41.330 --> 00:10:44.360 align:middle line:84% that it was synchronous, but secondly, that everyone 00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:46.898 align:middle line:90% had their video on. 00:10:46.898 --> 00:10:48.190 align:middle line:90% And I would tell the students-- 00:10:48.190 --> 00:10:50.570 align:middle line:84% I said, I know that you might have 00:10:50.570 --> 00:10:57.050 align:middle line:84% a friend, a spouse, a lover, a child walk through the camera. 00:10:57.050 --> 00:10:58.910 align:middle line:84% You might have a delivery, which-- 00:10:58.910 --> 00:11:01.790 align:middle line:84% One day, I was teaching, and I had a delivery. 00:11:01.790 --> 00:11:03.770 align:middle line:84% And there was a pounding on the door. 00:11:03.770 --> 00:11:06.380 align:middle line:84% And I had to say to the students, excuse me. 00:11:06.380 --> 00:11:08.480 align:middle line:90% I have to go to the door. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:10.930 align:middle line:90% But I said, that's life. 00:11:10.930 --> 00:11:13.490 align:middle line:84% We're going to relax about all of this. 00:11:13.490 --> 00:11:18.398 align:middle line:84% But I felt it formed a better sense of community. 00:11:18.398 --> 00:11:20.510 align:middle line:84% SARAH HANSEN: Before teaching at MIT, 00:11:20.510 --> 00:11:22.940 align:middle line:84% Professor Gensler cut his teeth in the professional 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:25.800 align:middle line:84% and political world working for Goldman Sachs; 00:11:25.800 --> 00:11:29.280 align:middle line:84% the US Department of Treasury; Hillary Clinton's campaign; 00:11:29.280 --> 00:11:32.030 align:middle line:84% Paul Sarbanes in the US Senate, and with Barack Obama's 00:11:32.030 --> 00:11:34.940 align:middle line:84% administration, chairing something called the Commodity 00:11:34.940 --> 00:11:37.010 align:middle line:90% Futures Trading Commission. 00:11:37.010 --> 00:11:40.430 align:middle line:84% His understanding of what makes a successful, well-equipped 00:11:40.430 --> 00:11:43.670 align:middle line:84% professional shines through in his classes. 00:11:43.670 --> 00:11:46.220 align:middle line:84% Gensler isn't just developing domain knowledge 00:11:46.220 --> 00:11:50.180 align:middle line:84% but cultivating humans and professionals. 00:11:50.180 --> 00:11:52.770 align:middle line:84% I want to read something to you that you've written. 00:11:52.770 --> 00:11:53.770 align:middle line:90% GARY GENSLER: Oh my God. 00:11:53.770 --> 00:11:55.220 align:middle line:90% This is the embarrassing moment. 00:11:55.220 --> 00:11:58.330 align:middle line:84% SARAH HANSEN: [LAUGHS] No, it's good. 00:11:58.330 --> 00:12:02.560 align:middle line:84% It says "respect and courtesy build reputations, networks, 00:12:02.560 --> 00:12:04.210 align:middle line:90% and trust." 00:12:04.210 --> 00:12:06.920 align:middle line:84% That seems important in your teaching. 00:12:06.920 --> 00:12:09.820 align:middle line:84% So I'm wondering how your focus on helping students 00:12:09.820 --> 00:12:14.030 align:middle line:84% cultivate professionalism kind of plays out in the course. 00:12:14.030 --> 00:12:16.070 align:middle line:90% How do you teach that? 00:12:16.070 --> 00:12:18.430 align:middle line:84% GARY GENSLER: So I think that each 00:12:18.430 --> 00:12:23.950 align:middle line:84% of us that walk into a classroom have a big responsibility. 00:12:23.950 --> 00:12:25.960 align:middle line:84% It's such a privilege to be at MIT 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:30.040 align:middle line:84% with this incredible student body and faculty and staff. 00:12:30.040 --> 00:12:32.530 align:middle line:84% But I feel that we have this responsibility that goes 00:12:32.530 --> 00:12:35.710 align:middle line:90% beyond our domain knowledge. 00:12:35.710 --> 00:12:39.200 align:middle line:84% Of course, I'm in the classroom teaching finance and technology 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:43.210 align:middle line:84% and this intersection of how machine learning and blockchain 00:12:43.210 --> 00:12:45.580 align:middle line:84% technology and Internet of Things 00:12:45.580 --> 00:12:48.340 align:middle line:84% is changing the world of finance. 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:50.470 align:middle line:84% But I also think that when I look back 00:12:50.470 --> 00:12:53.770 align:middle line:84% at the faculty members I learned the most from when I went-- 00:12:53.770 --> 00:12:55.300 align:middle line:90% I went to Wharton-- 00:12:55.300 --> 00:12:57.310 align:middle line:84% it was not about the domain knowledge 00:12:57.310 --> 00:13:02.090 align:middle line:84% of accounting or finance or linear algebra or biology. 00:13:02.090 --> 00:13:04.090 align:middle line:90% It was more about values. 00:13:04.090 --> 00:13:07.990 align:middle line:84% It was more about professionalism. 00:13:07.990 --> 00:13:10.960 align:middle line:84% And I've been honored to work at very high levels 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:12.940 align:middle line:90% of professionalism. 00:13:12.940 --> 00:13:15.670 align:middle line:84% Often, the race goes to the person 00:13:15.670 --> 00:13:19.240 align:middle line:84% who's prepped the most, who's been courteous, who 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:24.850 align:middle line:84% listens as much as they talk, who asks questions 00:13:24.850 --> 00:13:26.740 align:middle line:90% that are relevant. 00:13:26.740 --> 00:13:30.770 align:middle line:84% And I come back to that, not just in the classroom, 00:13:30.770 --> 00:13:33.740 align:middle line:84% but I offer lunches to the students. 00:13:33.740 --> 00:13:36.520 align:middle line:84% They sign up in an open signup forum 00:13:36.520 --> 00:13:39.400 align:middle line:84% where up to eight students can sign up. 00:13:39.400 --> 00:13:42.050 align:middle line:90% And I usually do this in person. 00:13:42.050 --> 00:13:46.120 align:middle line:84% But what I found in this COVID time, 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:49.690 align:middle line:84% there was such a demand that I set up lunches twice a week 00:13:49.690 --> 00:13:51.880 align:middle line:90% all through the six weeks. 00:13:51.880 --> 00:13:56.150 align:middle line:84% And they were nearly always booked with eight students. 00:13:56.150 --> 00:13:58.540 align:middle line:84% And we would just have no agenda other 00:13:58.540 --> 00:14:01.600 align:middle line:84% than we would talk about careers and professionalism 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:03.170 align:middle line:90% and the like. 00:14:03.170 --> 00:14:06.520 align:middle line:84% So maybe for some small percentage of the students, 00:14:06.520 --> 00:14:08.710 align:middle line:90% it will stick. 00:14:08.710 --> 00:14:11.090 align:middle line:84% And then I usually end my last lecture 00:14:11.090 --> 00:14:13.820 align:middle line:84% in every one of my classes, and I do a quote 00:14:13.820 --> 00:14:16.650 align:middle line:90% from Benjamin Franklin. 00:14:16.650 --> 00:14:19.820 align:middle line:84% And Benjamin Franklin, believe it or not, spoke about money. 00:14:19.820 --> 00:14:24.840 align:middle line:84% So I figure I get a little bit of a pass 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:27.750 align:middle line:90% if I get hokey on the last day. 00:14:27.750 --> 00:14:31.860 align:middle line:84% And I bring Benjamin Franklin and this wonderful, warm quote 00:14:31.860 --> 00:14:35.340 align:middle line:84% that you can look up about Benjamin Franklin and money. 00:14:35.340 --> 00:14:38.340 align:middle line:84% But what he really is talking about is paying it forward. 00:14:38.340 --> 00:14:41.610 align:middle line:90% He talks about if you should-- 00:14:41.610 --> 00:14:43.470 align:middle line:90% somebody does you a favor. 00:14:43.470 --> 00:14:48.020 align:middle line:84% The way that you repay the favor is doing the favor to others. 00:14:48.020 --> 00:14:52.290 align:middle line:84% And he says this is the best form of money he knows-- 00:14:52.290 --> 00:14:56.190 align:middle line:84% to redo a favor by paying it back to others. 00:14:56.190 --> 00:14:59.250 align:middle line:84% I feel that those of us who are privileged 00:14:59.250 --> 00:15:02.010 align:middle line:84% to be in these positions, if we can share that, 00:15:02.010 --> 00:15:03.840 align:middle line:84% and it sticks with some percentage 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:06.750 align:middle line:84% of the students, that's as important-- maybe 00:15:06.750 --> 00:15:11.430 align:middle line:84% more important-- than the domain knowledge and the domain 00:15:11.430 --> 00:15:12.360 align:middle line:90% analysis. 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:15.330 align:middle line:84% I mean, I like to think we teach a lot more than knowledge, 00:15:15.330 --> 00:15:16.730 align:middle line:90% that we teach a way of thinking. 00:15:16.730 --> 00:15:18.406 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:15:18.406 --> 00:15:22.654 align:middle line:90% 00:15:22.654 --> 00:15:25.290 align:middle line:84% SARAH HANSEN: If you're ready to learn more about FinTech, 00:15:25.290 --> 00:15:27.690 align:middle line:84% you can visit Professor Gensler's course materials 00:15:27.690 --> 00:15:30.690 align:middle line:84% on our MIT OpenCourseWare website. 00:15:30.690 --> 00:15:32.340 align:middle line:84% And if you're an educator who reuses 00:15:32.340 --> 00:15:34.260 align:middle line:84% the materials in your own teaching, 00:15:34.260 --> 00:15:36.790 align:middle line:84% call or write to us to share your story. 00:15:36.790 --> 00:15:38.860 align:middle line:90% You'll help inspire others. 00:15:38.860 --> 00:15:40.800 align:middle line:90% Thank you so much for listening. 00:15:40.800 --> 00:15:42.900 align:middle line:84% And if you like what you've heard so far, please 00:15:42.900 --> 00:15:45.570 align:middle line:84% consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening 00:15:45.570 --> 00:15:47.940 align:middle line:90% to this podcast today. 00:15:47.940 --> 00:15:50.730 align:middle line:84% Signing off from Cambridge, Massachusetts, 00:15:50.730 --> 00:15:53.970 align:middle line:84% I'm Sarah Hansen from MIT OpenCourseWare. 00:15:53.970 --> 00:15:59.327 align:middle line:90% 00:15:59.327 --> 00:16:02.150 align:middle line:90% CHILD: Ma, pahk the cah!