Security Traders Association - Panelist

Hilton Hotel, Chicago

In February 2025, I was invited to speak as a student panelist at the Security Traders Association of Chicago’s 99th Mid-Winter Meeting - one of the longest-running and most respected trading conferences in the country. It draws hundreds of professionals from firms across trading, asset management, and financial tech.

Our group was the first set of students ever invited to speak on stage in the event’s 99-year history. During the panel, I spoke about how AI and machine learning are making technical tools more accessible to early-career talent, and how that puts a premium on soft skills, judgment, and context. AI is quickly becoming the new calculator - something you’ll be expected to use fluently. Ironically, a lot of professors are still trying to ban it in class.

We knew we weren’t going to teach a bunch of professionals anything nuanced about trading, so instead, we focused on what we could offer - a real perspective on how students see the space, what we’re paying attention to, and what we think matters. From experience, I know the second people start checking their phones, it’s over, so the panel was mostly extemporaneous to allow space for improvisation.

This was my first time speaking in front of a crowd of senior professionals, as opposed to a room full of students: it was a great opportunity to push a new boundary for me. The panel ended up being one of the most attended at the conference, and it made the rest of the event smoother. At afterparties there were few cold intros.