By Chet Velani, Managing Director at EV
As artificial intelligence reshapes financial advice, the real differentiator won’t be speed or scale, it’ll be trust. In the following guest blog, Chet Velani, Managing Director at EV, explores how advisers can turn AI from a back-office tool into a catalyst for deeper client relationships, stronger brand equity, and a more personalised advice experience.
AI’s real potential goes beyond efficiency
AI’s potential to transform financial advice isn’t just limited to speeding up processes—it’s about creating the foundations for a better, more personalised customer experience. The first wave of innovation is centred on efficiency, deploying digital capabilities to automate the administration that underpins advice.
Algorithms are already being used to help determine financial plans, generate suitability reports, run compliance checks on transcripts, and streamline ongoing reviews. This kind of automation frees up advisers to spend their time where it matters most—understanding and supporting clients.
Building trust starts from the inside out
These early gains matter because they build trust in the technology from the inside out. They allow advisers to oversee AI’s performance in low-risk, back-office functions before it’s ever client-facing. That internal confidence becomes the foundation for more advanced applications—and it’s where most firms currently find themselves.
The next leap will be in client engagement
The next major leap will come through customer engagement. AI-driven chatbots and digital avatars are beginning to guide clients through fact finds, answer common questions, and coach them through potential financial scenarios—all available 24/7.
For clients, this means access to support at any hour; for firms, it means a growing pool of insights from the questions being asked, helping continuously refine the service.
Personalisation will be driven by data and behavioural insight
Looking further ahead, the opportunity lies in combining AI with client data and behavioural insights to deliver customised journeys. Using AI agents for specialist tasks, such as plan optimisation, can improve results and strengthen trust in the technology.
A client with a more analytical mindset might see deeper plan details, while someone focused on reassurance might receive more narrative-led summaries. EV’s Hybrid and Digital Advice white paper found that consumers can be grouped into personality types, Conservative, Experiential, Actualising and Strategic, each reflecting distinct attitudes to money and financial planning.
These profiles help tailor engagement: from those seeking security and clarity, to others motivated by lifestyle, personal fulfilment or managing money as a challenge to be mastered. Personalisation can deepen further as behavioural and financial data accumulates. Done right, AI becomes an intelligent layer that adapts to each individual rather than forcing everyone through the same funnel.
Human oversight remains essential for client trust
Even as the technology matures, the adviser must stay firmly in control—reviewing fact finds, checking reports and confirming plans. That visible human presence isn’t just regulatory good practice; it’s vital for client trust.
Empathy, reassurance and emotional understanding remain beyond the reach of algorithms, and they’re what turn data into meaningful advice.
Advisers’ roles will evolve from product selectors to proactive planners
Ultimately, advisers who harness AI will shift from being fund pickers or product sellers to genuine financial planners—anticipating client needs and prompting action proactively.
AI can already help identify opportunities or risks across client portfolios, and over time, with tighter integration through APIs and robust calculation engines, it will support more personalised, data-led plans built on strong technical foundations.
AI can be “probably right”—but advisers make it definitely right
AI is, by nature, probabilistic, which means it’s “probably right.” Advisers bring the judgment that ensures “probably” becomes “definitely.”
As the quality and reliability of AI outputs continue to improve, advisers will lean more confidently on these systems. And at that point, we’ll see a real step change, from faster processes to fundamentally better advice.
Trust and transparency will unlock AI’s mass-market potential
We already trust AI with our security, from unlocking our phones to verifying our identities. It won’t be long before clients also trust it to guide their financial decisions, provided it operates with transparency, robust oversight, and a touch of human empathy.
The real breakthrough, though, lies in reaching the mass market: those who would otherwise fall under guidance or targeted support. As AI continues to evolve, and it’s still early days, it has the potential to transform how firms with large customer bases, such as banks, providers and workplace schemes, support and engage with them.
What was once impossible through technology alone can now become reality. That’s where AI will be the real game-changer in financial advice.
