Muhlenberg athletes are spending the summer of 2026 enjoying fantastic experiences on campus, in their hometowns, across the country, and even around the world.

Rising junior men's basketball player Gianpiero Arnone, a double major in finance and business administration, made an investment in his future and learned about how AI is making in impact in the financial world through his internship at U.S. Mutual.

This summer, I was fortunate enough to be accepted into the internship program at U.S. Mutual Inc., a financial and retirement planning firm on Long Island, New York. As part of my internship, I assist some of the firm's great financial advisors with client paperwork and meeting preparation. I work extensively with Excel, the stock market, and other tools that help me accomplish my work and make the lives of some of these advisors easier.

I would say the most interesting part of these experiences, besides listening in on client meetings, is learning about the major part that AI is starting to play in this world. AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot are becoming more and more intelligent, which has allowed for their involvement. Copilot is being used to organize information and help in the decision process as to what will help the specific client the most.

The summer-long project that I have been assigned to do is to create a Copilot agent that will be able to prepare all the required information needed for a client before they meet with an advisor. This helps save time for the advisor and highlights key points that they may have missed if they did it by themselves. Copilot is also able to make suggestions that can be considered during a meeting.

It is truly amazing what artificial intelligence can already do, and it will only get even smarter.

The A.B.E.F [Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, Finance] courses I have taken so far have helped prepare me for this internship. My courses over the past two years have included a large portion of Excel work, which has made me feel confident using these skills during the summer. I have also learned some key terminology during my classes that I have also heard at work. Being able to understand parts of the financial language goes a long way.

I am grateful for what I have learned so far during my time at Muhlenberg because it has allowed me to be successful at a great financial firm.

What I really enjoy about this internship is the hands-on experience. I'm around so many professionals who know and understand how to deal with different clients' financial situations. Something that is also unique is that many of these advisors are knowledgeable in various aspects of financial planning. They know how to prepare taxes, analyze retirement and investment strategies, and work with life insurance. It's really cool to see how much stock market intelligence they have to almost perfectly predict which stocks will do well and which will not.

This internship has had an extraordinary impact on my future career, because I have gotten a head start on the various exams that I will need to take to be successful in this position. I have already taken the SIE [Securities Industry Essentials] Exam, Notary Public Exam, and New York State Life, Accident, and Health Insurance Exam. Not many people at 20 years old are taking these exams. I have been fortunate enough to start developing career skills before my first job after college.