Opinion | AI can unlock the human value of advice

Throughout the week in our In Focus series, we’ll be looking at how financial advice firms are using, and can use, artificial intelligence (AI) in ways that are practical, responsible and commercially valuable. 

Chanelle Paynter, Associate Research Director at NextWealth, explores how AI adoption in financial advice is moving beyond early experimentation and into a more complex phase of integration and governance.

AI has moved quickly from curiosity to everyday utility in financial advice.

The low-hanging fruit of AI adoption has been picked already to a certain degree. Advisers are experimenting with AI and this has manifested mainly in time-saving tools such as meeting note automation.

However, preparing to do the harder work required to turn early efficiency improvements into wider business evolution depends on how firms, both big and small, choose to move next.

NextWealth’s Adviser Tech Stack report, Clearing the path for AI in advice, found nearly half (45%) of advisers are now using or implementing an AI solution, up from 34% a year earlier.

Adoption has been driven overwhelmingly by meeting notes and transcription tools, used by 52% of advisers.

This reflects what we hear consistently in practice. Firms describe AI as a ‘massive time saver’ when applied to repeatable, low-risk tasks. The report found that 84% of AI users cite increased speed and operational efficiency as the main benefit.

Minutes are shaved off post-meeting admin. CRM activities are quicker. Follow-up tasks are structured and documented.

AI has embedded itself in adviser workflows where the work is routine and repetitive, while the risk of mistakes is manageable. But beyond that first wave, progress has slowed.

Barriers to deeper adoption

The initial enthusiasm is now encountering friction. Only 35% of firms report a positive ROI from AI so far. If the technology is so transformative, why are two-thirds not yet seeing clear returns?

Part of the answer lies in governance. Fewer than 5% of advisers say they have a clear AI policy, guidelines and processes in place. AI is possibly being deployed in live environments without the kind of structured oversight that would satisfy a robust Consumer Duty lens.

Regulation and compliance are cited as a barrier by 79% of advisers. Senior managers know that accountability ultimately rests with them. Due diligence questions are being asked of vendors, but not all firms feel equipped to interrogate model logic, data handling or testing protocols in sufficient depth.

Integration is another issue. Only 15% of firms say integration across the tech stack is not holding them back.

There is also a disconnect between time saved and how it has then been reinvested. Many firms rolled out meeting-note tools quickly and saw immediate gains. But few paused to define what the reclaimed time was for.

Without deliberate reinvestment, the hours saved disappear into other tasks.

Improving the tech stack

Despite these barriers, more ambitious use cases are emerging.

Suitability reporting is the most obvious next step. Only 8% of advisers currently use AI for suitability assessment and reporting, but 64% are considering it.

The hesitation here is evident: accuracy, logic and process consistency are not yet where they need to be. AI will scale whatever sits behind it. If templates and workflows are inconsistent, the tool will replicate that inconsistency.

Other use cases are surfacing through NextWealth’s AI Lab discussions and roundtables. Some larger firms are deploying AI in compliance, using it to check cases at scale and strengthen oversight.

Others are using AI-generated feedback on recorded meetings to support adviser training, analysing talk ratios, interruptions and structure.

Here the divergence between larger and smaller firms becomes apparent. Larger firms often have in-house technology teams and the resources to pilot multiple tools or build proprietary solutions. However, they also face more cumbersome compliance processes.

Smaller firms, by contrast, can be more agile. They can trial a tool quickly and abandon it if it fails to deliver. But they may lack the internal expertise to build integrated solutions or conduct deeper due diligence.

Adoption patterns reflect this complexity. Firms with two to five advisers are now the most likely to be using AI (52%), while larger firms’ growth has slowed, likely constrained by governance and legacy systems.

Doubling down on human value

It is tempting to frame AI as a path to unconstrained scaling. Some anecdotal stories suggest advisers could theoretically service vastly expanded client banks.

In theory, yes, technology can support far larger client-per-adviser servicing. But advice thrives on the strength of advisers’ relationships with clients, not just sheer volume.

Advisers speak about using AI to “doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes” so planners and paraplanners can spend more time with clients. The future ambition then should be to integrate further efficiencies without degrading the client experience.

If 84% of users are already seeing efficiency gains, the real question is what advisers will do with that capacity. Will they simply add more clients at the same service level? Or will they deepen relationships, improve communication and raise standards?

AI is already proving it can handle menial tasks and save time. Successful automation will unshackle what is uniquely human about financial advice. But the next step should not be ‘AI-fying’ every process.

The firms that succeed will likely be those that treat AI not as a bolt-on productivity hack, but as a tool to unlock the human value of their businesses.

By Chanelle Paynter, Associate Research Director at NextWealth