At the Schwab IMPACT conference in Denver, host executives agreed 2025 was the year of the notetaker, although there is less consensus on the next phase of AI innovation for financial advisors heading into 2026.
“Notetakers are the number one thing that we're really seeing, advisors are using it to augment their client meetings so that they can actually be more present in the meeting and rely on the notetaking to happen through the AI agents,” said Schwab managing director of digital advisor solutions, Alison Dooher. “The summaries, the next news — I actually haven't talked to an advisor in recent weeks that isn't using some sort of capability like this.”
Dooher spoke during a media roundtable alongside Schwab’s head of advisor experience Jalina Kerr and Schwab’s head of business consulting and education Lisa Salvi. AI notetakers should continue to add helpful integrations with CRM systems, Salvi said, before pontificating the next wave of advisor technology adoption to come through AI agents.
“I agree 2025 was the year of the note-taking tool, [advisors] want to hear how you're implementing it, how you're approaching it from a compliance perspective,” said Salvi. “I think we'll see 2026 [is when] we're warming up more to agentic things, but 2027 and beyond is where I think we'll get started more on that.”
AI agents are “software systems that use AI to pursue goals and complete tasks on behalf of users,” as defined by Google Cloud’s website. Schwab’s engineering team has been leveraging AI agents to write code for internal tasks, resulting in what Dooher called a 20% faster project completion timeline.
“The other place that I'm starting to see advisors really lean into is what AI can do in the tools that are embedded in portfolio construction,” said Dooher. “How much faster can you actually create a really customized portfolio, really rich with research.”
A study earlier this year from Schwab found that 57% of independent RIAs are already using AI in their work, and 29% are actively exploring implementation. Earlier this year, the Schwab Knowledge Assistant launched as a chatbot tool for client service representatives to help answer questions from customers seeking financial advice.
Salvi added she also sees advisors using AI to summarize earnings reports, legal documents and SOC-2 compliance workflows. She added that firm leaders should prioritize creating “AI vision statements,” because “otherwise there's a lot of fear” regarding the technology’s role in the workplace.
“If you frame AI as a positive thing and you have a vision statement that's optimistic, research shows that your efforts are going to be better received and more beneficial to your entire team,” said Salvi. “That's one area where every business but specific to RIAs, we need to get started on framing it and having a way you're going to talk to your people. Is this is going to enable you to do more work, is it going to take on only specific tasks? Is it going to free up time so you have more time for creativity and relationship building?”
Across the US economy, employers announced cuts to more than 150,000 jobs last month, marking the worst October for layoffs since 2003, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The Schwab roundtable largely downplayed the projected impact that AI will have on potential advisor labor reductions, instead saying they’re seeing firms hire for more roles that prioritize AI expertise and changing job description postings to account for AI’s presence. Salvi did acknowledge how entry-level client service associate (CSA) roles will evolve with AI.
“I'm seeing more job restructuring than job elimination,” said Salvi. “I think with AI, we want to see folks start to think of the future safe swim lane for agents. You're going to see that CSA have different roles, because they're not the note taker in the meeting anymore. So could you maybe elevate that CSA more quickly to a lead advisor role, because they're reviewing the notes, they're not taking the notes.”
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