Goldman Sachs appoints ex-Alphabet exec to lead ‘applied innovation’ office

Goldman Sachs has appointed ex-Alphabet executive Jared Cohen, who is set to co-lead its newly launched “applied innovation” office.

Cohen had previously founded and acted as CEO of Jigsaw, a New York-based tech incubator run within the tech giant.

In addition to heading up the new unit, he also set to serve as a partner, management committee member, and president of global affairs at the bank.

Jigsaw’s projects included Perspective API, a tool which enables web-based publishers such as Wikipedia to filter out toxic comments, and the open-source tool Outline VPN.

This isn’t the first time the investment bank has made a big hire from the tech sector, 

In 2019, the bank poached ex-Amazon Web Services executive Marco Argenti to be its co-chief information officer.

In addition to his time at Google, Cohen also brings an array of public sector experience. 

Before joining Google in 2010, Cohen had worked for the US Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff from 2006, under Condoleezza Rice and later Hillary Clinton, and also authored several non-fiction books, including one covering the Rwandan genocide.

"Working closely with leaders across Goldman Sachs, George and Jared will specifically identify and advance commercial opportunities for the firm that is at the intersection of a changing global marketplace, shifts in the geopolitical landscape, and rapidly evolving technology," said Goldman CEO David Solomon.

The appointment comes as the investment bank has taken many steps as of late to diversify its business model away from its traditional investment banking activities.

Various reports over the last several months have teased the wider UK launch of Marcus’s online banking app, a full five years after Goldman's consumer-focused division initially launched in the UK.

However it’s not just Goldman that is looking to attract fresh hires away from big tech, it’s also a wider industry trend according to some experts. 

In June, Christian Faes, co-founder of LendInvest and chair of the industry group Fintech Founders said that the fintech industry is “literally hiring people out of Facebook and Amazon".