• Mistaking busy work for progress and forgetting about process—leading firms are improving processes and productivity with new tech that supports how modern deals get done.
• Burning junior talent on low-value tasks—top banks are retaining new hires with the opportunity to produce more high-value work earlier on in their careers.
• Treating deal and relationship data like personal property—firms with a collaborative culture of shared insight are building institutional knowledge and performing better, together.‍

Mistaking busy work for progress and forgetting about process

Investment banking has long rewarded hustle—and for good reason. But in today’s faster, more tech-driven market, the nature of that hustle is changing. What used to be seen as dedication—manually compiling reports, reacting to information requests, or working late to chase down data, now signals a deeper issue: outdated processes that haven’t kept pace with how fast workflows are expected to move.

Behind the scenes, what often feels like “getting it done” is really teams spinning their wheels—copying outreach from emails into activity logs, digging through inboxes to find who last contacted a buyer or cross-checking inconsistent data across decks, spreadsheets and generic CRMs.

These inefficiencies aren’t new, and they aren’t the fault of the people doing the work. They’re the product of legacy processes and tools that aren’t built for the complexity or pace of modern dealmaking. As AI and automation reshape everything from reporting to outreach, clients and talent are rewarding firms that work smarter—not just harder.

For years, firms have adapted by throwing more time and effort at the problem. But in today’s market, that strategy breaks down. With expectations rising on all sides—clients wanting faster answers, analysts seeking better tools and competitors moving quicker—the status quo isn’t sustainable.

What better looks like: Top-performing firms are shifting their mindset—from glorifying activity to optimizing process. They’re building more tech-forward cultures that treat operational design as a strategic priority—not just an IT concern.

That means evaluating old habits, experimenting with new tools and investing in platforms—like MadeMarket’s purpose-built CRM and generative AI tools—that reduce friction across the deal lifecycle.

They’re defining and tracking KPIs that actually reflect performance—like deal velocity, outreach-to-meeting conversion rates, time-to-close, and coverage depth by sector or sponsor. And by embedding these metrics into the systems where work happens, they’re gaining real visibility—not just dashboards that lag behind or live outside the workflow.

Instead of relying on legacy habits or fragmented reporting, these firms are using tech to design better processes from the ground up—so teams aren’t just reacting faster, they’re operating with more discipline, transparency and control.

Learn more: The Investment Banker’s Guide to Building a Modern Tech Stack

‍Burning top talent on low-value work

‍When inefficient processes and outdated tools dominate a firm’s workflow, the cost isn’t just operational—it’s human. High-performing people often spend their best hours on the least valuable tasks: formatting slides, logging activity, updating trackers or reconciling data across disconnected systems.

These tasks may feel like a rite of passage, but over time, they create a talent bottleneck that slows the entire firm down.

This dynamic isn’t the result of intent—it’s inertia. Many firms still operate with the same assumptions they’ve held for decades: that junior talent should “pay their dues,” that repetition builds discipline and that hustle naturally leads to growth. But expectations have changed.

The rise of automation, AI and smarter software means much of this work can be systematized—and younger professionals entering the industry know it. Today’s junior talent is more tech-savvy, more efficiency-minded and less willing to accept legacy workflows as the cost of entry.

At the same time, investment banking faces increased competition for talent from industries with similar compensation but fewer hours and more modern infrastructure. When top candidates see peers in private equity or tech roles doing more strategic work earlier in their careers, the gap becomes hard to ignore.

What better looks like: Leading banks are making intentional shifts in how they develop and retain talent. They’re eliminating low-value manual tasks, giving junior teams the tools to contribute meaningfully earlier and treating time as a strategic asset.

MadeMarket supports this shift by streamlining the work that used to take hours, so teams can focus on analysis, judgment and execution. But the real change is cultural: building an environment where talent is developed—not drained—and where strong people systems drive strong business results.

‍Learn more: 4 Investment Banking Fire Drills That Shouldn’t Exist (And How to Eliminate Them)

‍Treating deal and relationship data like personal property

When key relationship and deal data live in someone’s inbox, memory or personal spreadsheet, the firm loses more than just visibility—it loses momentum. In addition to slowing down execution and producing fire drills for information and reports, this kind of fragmentation erodes long-term knowledge. From client context and pipeline history to relationship nuance and execution details, too much critical insight walks out the door when it isn’t shared systematically.

Legacy systems make this problem worse. CRMs that aren’t purpose-built, or spreadsheets that live off to the side, make it easy for people to operate in isolation. The result is fragmentation—multiple versions of relationship histories, buyer status and deal activity that never fully line up.

Top-performing firms are already moving in a different direction. They’re building more transparent, collaborative environments where knowledge compounds over time and execution doesn’t hinge on individual memory. Competitive pressure, talent expectations, and technology trends are all pushing the industry this way And the firms that embrace it are pulling ahead, building more collaborative teams and making sure their most valuable data doesn’t walk out the door when a dealmaker does.

What better looks like: Leading banks treat relationship data as infrastructure. They create habits, systems and cultural norms that make sharing the default—so insights accumulate and value compounds.

MadeMarket supports this shift by making it easy to log, share, and access relationship activity across the team. Tools like MadeMarket’s Relationship IQ can even build on that data to instantly surface the strongest path into a target by sifting through a firm’s entire network and engagement history. But the real advantage is the mindset shift: information flows freely while being kept within the firm over time, collaboration improves and no deal hinges on a single person.

‍Learn more: Future-Proofing Your Investment Bank With MadeMarket’s Purpose-Built CRM

‍The future of investment banking

The future of investment banking is faster, more transparent and more collaborative. It’s built on better systems, smarter processes and cultures that empower every team member to do their best work. We started MadeMarket to help bring that future into the present: by giving deal teams the tools and insights they need to move smarter, move faster and win more—together.

And that’s why deal teams save thousands of hours per year while closing more deals, faster.

Want to learn more and explore what MadeMarket can do for you? Connect with a member of our team to get started with a demo!