Jenny Johnson, the president and CEO of Franklin Templeton, a financial firm managing $1.6 trillion in assets, reiterated her support for blockchain technology during an interview with Bloomberg anchor David Westland at the 27th Annual Milken Institute Global Conference in California.
During their discussion, Johnson expressed her views on tokenization and generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Tokenization
When asked about the benefits of tokenization for Franklin Templeton, Johnson expressed her enthusiasm for blockchain technology. She shared that the company conducted an experiment comparing traditional methods and blockchain for processing account records over a period of six to eight months. The results were surprisingly positive, with blockchain proving to be significantly less expensive.
Johnson attributed this cost-effectiveness to the elimination of the high expenses associated with verifying data between different systems, which is a problem that blockchain aims to solve. She emphasized that even after data is reconciled internally, financial institutions and stakeholders still need to verify data with external parties. In the case of blockchain, there is a single source of truth.
The savings in time and money can open up more diverse investment opportunities. Johnson cited the example of pop star Rihanna, who released 300 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that provided their owners with a small percentage of royalties for one of her songs through a smart contract.
This is not the first time Johnson has mentioned this example. In a previous interview with CNBC’s Delivering Alpha in October 2023, she described tokenization as “securitization done on steroids.”
Source:
Franklin Templeton
Generative AI
The conversation then turned to generative AI. Johnson acknowledged the value of generative AI systems but also pointed out their limitations. She compared it to a student who excels in English but struggles in math.
Johnson revealed that Franklin Templeton recently partnered with Microsoft to develop an AI-powered sales assistant. She also highlighted the investment opportunities in this field. Additionally, she praised the potential of AI-powered translation services to bridge language barriers in the financial industry.
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