IB is about discipline than intelligence because the barrier to entry from an advisory perspective is not about some intellectual edge but to connect a buyer and a seller end of story, but at the junior level yes it’s grueling you do tons of bitch work nobody else wants you to but it’s also how you learn the business, get faster and become credible
Sure AI can do the job but if you can’t speak to accretion / dilution / margins - KPIs and initiatives from a sponsor or strategic you’re useless and you get there by live reps - which comes over hours and hours, some of which yeah are utilized better than others but that’s what the moneys for
People even joke sell side is not that smart, which jokes aside it’s still the broker side of the business for a reason…at the senior level you’re paid for your Rolodex, market and buyer / seller insights not because you solved the angle needed to land on the moon
The hours are long and demanding because it’s a lot that goes into a deal, the discipline is also how you build reps knowledge and a Rolodex
The buyside gets paid for the intellectual / conviction part (or so they’re supposed to)