RIAs must rethink work design to harvest true AI value, warns Deloitte

Simply implementing artificial intelligence won’t guarantee meaningful returns unless the way work is designed around it is fundamentally rethought, a new report warns.

As a rallying call to RIAs and their business-owning clients, Deloitte’s recent research says the key to extracting value from AI lies not in the tech-first approach but in the interplay between human and machine intelligence.

The firm found that 59% of surveyed organisations (not only those in financial services) report a tech-focused approach to AI investment, but these companies are 1.6 times more likely to report that their AI investments are not exceeding expectations. Only 16% of companies indicate they have fully redesigned roles, processes and operating models to embed AI into how work is done.

With financial services and wealth advisory firms under pressure to deploy AI-driven analytics, automations and client-engagement tools, the risk is that, without accompanying organisational change, such initiatives remain pilot projects and fail to deliver the “exponential returns” promised.

In a report titled “The path to achieving value from AI: scaling your human edge”, Deloitte emphasises that the differentiator going forward is the “human edge” provided by judgement, creativity and empathy, which can be amplified (rather than replaced) by machines.

For financial advisors there are several key takeaways:

• AI tools must not simply be layered onto traditional workflows. Most firms fall into what Deloitte calls an “antipattern” of treating AI as a bolt-on, which severely limits value capture.
• Leadership matters: The research found that just 12% of organisations report HR is leading AI-driven work-design initiatives, while 39% say IT is leading. This suggests advisory firms need cross-functional ownership — combining technology, operations and human capital.
• Trust, workforce readiness and integration matter heavily. The research flags leadership and strategic misalignment (51%), technology-integration limitations (47%) and workforce readiness (41%) among the key barriers to value creation.
• To scale value, the report outlines six inter-linked fundamentals: leadership and accountability; strategy and value; trustworthy AI; operating model; technology and data foundations; and change-readiness.

For firms looking to move past isolated AI trials and into value-realisation, the strategic focus should shift from “What tool can we deploy?” to “How will deployment change how we work, decide and serve clients?”

“Our latest research shows a clear pattern: most organizations are investing heavily in AI, but not enough in the work design needed to unlock its value,” notes David Mallon, Deloitte’s US Human Capital head of research and chief futurist. “This shouldn’t be an ‘either/or’ approach — it should be a ‘both/and’ strategy to maximize value. Organizations that take a technology-first approach struggle to scale, while those that intentionally design roles, workflows, and decision-making to integrate humans and machines are more likely to exceed their ROI expectations. The data underscores that AI’s potential is realized through work design.”