Tech leaders at RIAs have spent the past few years looking at the tools underpinning the business of financial advice and asking, “What can we automate next?” When I watch firms evaluate advisor technology, the sharpest leaders go one step further and ask, “Why are we automating in the first place?”
At first blush, the answers are obvious: You want more efficiency and the ability to serve more clients. Lowering overhead and increasing productivity are straightforward ways to improve the bottom line, and RIAs have gotten quite good at this type of automation to the benefit of their businesses.
Generative AI excites us because the large language models (LLMs) and ability to process unstructured data allow firms to consider automating parts of the business that, until now, have been difficult to delegate to a machine.
But should you?
I’m not entirely convinced that ruthless, maximal efficiency should be the goal of a financial advisor. At the risk of sounding glib, an advisor is supposed to deliver financial advice. None of your prospects are searching for “the most efficient RIA in Florida.” Automation should serve a single purpose: to free advisors to spend more time with clients where their judgment and experience truly matter.
I have the good fortune to work closely with a lot of RIAs that I believe are approaching AI automation in a smart, human-first way. Here’s what I learned from them.
Automate the Work That Pulls You Away From Clients
Most advisory teams carry heavy administrative loads. Hours are spent summarizing meetings, documenting conversations, building workflows, interpreting notes, and creating tasks — this isn’t news to anyone. Clients can tell when their advisor is distracted, and advisors certainly feel it when back-office work crowds out preparation, prospecting, or meaningful follow-up.
This is exactly where AI can help, and actually where most firms begin their AI automation. When you are in a meeting, your attention should be on the person in front of you. You should not be thinking about how to turn your notes into follow-up actions. You should not be juggling six windows to keep processes organized.
AI handles these responsibilities well. When they are implemented thoughtfully, AI tools can digest call transcripts, create summaries, and surface information that feeds into your workflows. As these are high-volume, rules-based responsibilities that drain time from the relationship, they are ideal candidates for automation because they help the advisor return to work that is more meaningful.
Don’t Automate the Human Moments That Matter
The temptation to automate grows as the tools improve. That does not mean everything benefits from it. Some activities rely on emotional intelligence and personal history; they involve nuance that AI cannot reliably interpret.
The truth is, most of the people you want as clients have spent the past few years inundated with low-effort communication written by AI prompts. Unless you spend a lot of time manicuring the outputs, people can tell when they aren’t being addressed by a human. In some cases, that’s fine; people just want good, accurate answers. But the human relationship is a big part of your value as an advisor.
A warm recommendation from a trusted center of influence still beats an automated suggestion. A human advisor’s input on one’s estate plan beats a chatbot’s, because the chatbot is not professionally invested in the outcome.
Emotional context is another area to protect. AI can tell you that a client sounded irritated in a previous call, yet it cannot decide how to approach that emotion. It can provide a reminder or a prompt, but the tone and timing of the conversation belong to the advisor. Those choices depend on empathy and familiarity with the client’s story.
Relationships grow through presence and attention. They require listening, interpretation, and care. These are moments in which the advisor should stay in control. AI can support the relationship, but it cannot carry the relationship itself.
That said, there is an awful lot that AI can do behind the scenes. AI tools that are fully integrated into your tech stack can draw on a vast collection of human data to develop a unified picture. That junior advisor who spent most of their time before 2022 silently taking notes on calls can now play a much more active and valuable role in the client relationship.
This is where leadership matters — the job is to direct technology with intention. Ask why this automation is necessary; ask how it improves clarity, consistency, or service. Good automation should reduce the distance between the advisor and the client.
Adrian Johnstone is the CEO of Practifi.
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Tech leaders at RIAs have spent the past few years looking at the tools underpinning the business of financial advice and asking, “What can we automate next?” When I watch firms evaluate advisor technology, the sharpest leaders go one step further and ask, “Why are we automating in the first place?”
