This first-person essay draws upon an in-depth conversation with Varun Agarwal, one of the original team members at OffDeal, an artificial intelligence–based investment bank. The account has been meticulously refined for conciseness and comprehension, and Business Insider has independently verified both Agarwal’s professional credentials and his academic background.
For many recent college graduates who dream of establishing themselves within the high-stakes world of finance, choosing to enter investment banking almost feels like an inevitable and straightforward decision. The profession possesses an undeniable allure—promising both an impressive salary and the chance to work directly alongside senior executives from some of the world’s largest publicly traded corporations. Moreover, the job provides a rare hybrid training ground: one can cultivate crucial interpersonal and communication abilities while also gaining mastery over rigorous technical proficiencies such as advanced financial modeling and complex valuation analyses.
Agarwal reflects that his tenure in the field taught him far more than theoretical principles or quantitative skills. Among his most valuable takeaways was learning how to manage a remarkably broad array of demanding tasks with precision and efficiency. Investment banking compelled him to develop a disciplined approach to problem-solving and to acquire the habit of asking incisive, targeted questions when assessing the viability or potential of a business. The continuous exposure to live deals sharpened not only his analytical reasoning but also his intellectual curiosity and his confidence in making sound, evidence-based investment judgments.
Yet, his decision to join OffDeal represented a carefully measured leap of faith—a calculated risk driven by both ambition and introspection. Agarwal admits that he once contemplated beginning his career in a technology startup rather than in the structured world of banking. His hesitation, however, stemmed from an inherent aversion to uncertainty. At the University of Minnesota, where he completed his studies, entrepreneurial ventures were relatively uncommon among peers, and the predictability as well as the social prestige of investment banking seemed objectively safer. He also doubted the immediate relevance of his skills to a startup environment, reasoning that he needed a solid foundation first. Investment banking, in his view, was an avenue through which he could acquire practical, transferable competencies until the ideal startup opportunity presented itself.
Over the next three years, he immersed himself in the demanding routine of a young investment banker—first at Piper Sandler and subsequently at JPMorgan. Both positions were based in California’s Bay Area, a fortuitous coincidence that placed him in proximity to the epicenter of technological innovation, Silicon Valley. This geographical exposure gradually reshaped his perspective. Observing energetic twenty-one-year-old founders who were building companies from the ground up and successfully raising millions in venture capital ignited something within him. He recalls thinking with conviction, “If they can do this, why couldn’t I? What’s really stopping me from taking a comparable risk?”
Motivated by that question, Agarwal began reaching out to entrepreneurs and investors in an effort to map out a new professional direction. During one of these exploratory phases, as he was browsing LinkedIn, he stumbled upon a post by Ori Eldarov, the founder of OffDeal—a firm that was pioneering the use of AI technologies within the realm of investment banking. The company’s mission immediately captivated him. OffDeal sought to deploy artificial intelligence and sophisticated software tools to solve the very inefficiencies that he had personally encountered during his early years at JPMorgan. Its emphasis on democratizing access to high-quality financial advisory services for small and midsize businesses resonated deeply with him on a personal level. His mother, the owner of a dental practice, had long faced the challenges small-business operators experience when attempting to sell or scale their companies. Having witnessed traditional brokers struggle to orchestrate transactions with the procedural rigor of a Wall Street institution, Agarwal recognized a meaningful alignment between OffDeal’s purpose and his own aspirations.
He describes OffDeal as akin to Jane Street, but operating within the investment banking ecosystem. The firm’s distinctive structure assigns each transaction to a compact, two-person team—typically composed of one banker and one software engineer. This innovative pairing allows both the financial strategist and the technologist to share directly in the proceeds of successful deals, instilling mutual ownership and accountability. Agarwal often collaborates with OffDeal’s founding engineer, Luis Ruiz Morel, and together they have streamlined processes that once consumed weeks into operations that now take mere days. For example, where a traditional bank like JPMorgan might require several weeks or even months to complete a company valuation, OffDeal’s proprietary technology enables them to accomplish the same task in one or two days. Instead of manually inputting figures into dense Excel spreadsheets—a tedious and error-prone process—Agarwal now employs automated tools that handle valuation computations with unprecedented speed and accuracy.
This technological transformation extends far beyond financial modeling. Artificial intelligence has redefined nearly every aspect of his workflow as a banker. Tasks that once demanded hours of painstaking manual effort have been either simplified or fully automated. During client meetings or virtual conferences, AI-driven transcription tools now record and organize entire conversations in real time, eliminating the need for manual note-taking. Similarly, the preparation of elaborate pitchbooks, which traditionally required multiple revisions and countless email exchanges with managing directors, has been dramatically accelerated by OffDeal’s AI agent—capable of autonomously editing and formatting materials according to professional standards. As a result, bankers at OffDeal can focus their energy on what truly matters: nurturing relationships, generating strategic insights, and closing more deals.
The cumulative effect of these tools has been transformational. While at JPMorgan, Agarwal typically handled only two or three active transactions simultaneously, constrained by the industry’s time-intensive processes. At OffDeal, the technological efficiencies allow him to manage ten or even eleven deals at once—an operational scale that would be unrealistic in a conventional institution. This increase in capacity not only enhances revenue potential but also frees up time for higher-value activities, such as meeting clients face-to-face, cultivating leads, and traveling to interact directly with potential buyers and sellers.
Reflecting on the evolution of his career, Agarwal acknowledges that beginning one’s professional life in traditional investment banking remains an excellent choice; the field still offers rigorous training, responsibility, and financial reward. However, he now believes that the perceived risk of joining an AI-oriented enterprise like OffDeal has diminished significantly. What once seemed a gamble has become, in his view, a strategic move aligned with inevitable technological progress. Artificial intelligence is no longer a speculative future—it is an industrial force already reshaping how enterprises operate. Agarwal emphasizes that there exists only a limited window of opportunity for professionals to establish themselves as true “AI natives,” individuals who instinctively understand how to integrate machine intelligence into their workflows. Those who act decisively during this formative phase, he contends, will enjoy extraordinary professional dividends when the AI sector reaches maturity.
The message underlying his journey is clear: for emerging professionals willing to take calculated, thoughtfully assessed risks, this is perhaps the most opportune moment to connect their financial expertise with the transformative power of artificial intelligence. Such a choice—though daring—may ultimately yield the greatest career growth of all.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/left-jp-morgan-analyst-join-ai-investment-bank-startup-advice-2025-10
