For over a century, Goldman Sachs has been one of the most recognizable names in multinational investment banking and financial services. When they speak, the market listens.

So what does Goldman Sachs have to say about APIs and AI when it comes to serving its clients and fueling business success? Kong had a chance to ask these questions to Rohan Deshpande, Managing Director at the company, at API Summit 2024.

If you’re managing APIs for a tech team in the finance industry, don’t miss the insights and advice revealed below.

Goldman Sachs has had phenomenal success serving its clients, but behind the scenes, engineering plays a huge part in the organization’s operations. 

"Engineering at Goldman Sachs is a strategic investment for the firm," Deshpande said. "About a quarter of the people that work for Goldman Sachs are part of engineering."

Being client-focused is one of Goldman Sachs’ operating principles, so Deshpande points out that technology is an enabler for understanding what customers are trying to do, how the organization can support them, and how technology can make things more efficient.

As Managing Director, Deshpande works within Goldman’s core engineering organization, the foundational group that builds technology for the rest of the firm. 

Deshpande's team builds platforms that are used by engineers across the firm to solve business-specific problems. APIs, therefore, are key to keeping things efficient and frictionless.

"APIs are a first-class construct at Goldman Sachs," Deshpande said. "They are the perfect abstraction that gives you decoupling between technology products as well as different teams."

The engineering and business sides of the house have to have close collaboration and shared responsibility. Deshpande's team is responsible for the infrastructure, while business teams own the responsibility of delivering applications that serve client needs. It’s a relationship that turns engineers into first-class citizens within a bank and drives innovation across the organization. 

"We’re a bank, and because we’re regulated, we have compliance requirements from regulatory agencies," Deshpande said. "Instead of having tens of thousands of engineers implement these as they build applications, my team builds them out at the platform level."