Raymond James has named Seth Ford as senior vice president and chief architect, tapping the former Vanguard executive to accelerate the firm's enterprise technology and artificial intelligence ambitions as competition for AI talent intensifies across the wealth management industry.
Ford, who spent the past three years as chief architect and head of agentic digital products at Vanguard, brings more than three decades of financial services technology experience to the Florida-headquartered independent broker-dealer.
In April, Vanguard unveiled its Expert Insights tool for advisors, designed to instantaneously serve up personalized portfolio assessments grounded in its own methodology.
Before Vanguard, Ford spent 23 years at Fidelity Investments, where he held a series of technology leadership roles.
In his new position, Ford will oversee enterprise architecture across Raymond James' platforms, with a mandate to scale AI capabilities, modernize cloud computing infrastructure, and integrate advanced analytics across the firm's operations. He will also chair the firm's Technology Review Board and join the Extended IT Senior Leadership Team.
"Seth has demonstrated strong leadership and success across enterprise architecture, agentic product management, sophisticated database design, modern cloud computing architecture and resilient distributed systems throughout his career," said Andy Zolper, chief information officer at Raymond James. "His background spans 30 years where his expertise lies in bridging the gap between business objectives and technological solutions, driving efficiency and creating competitive advantage."
Ford's appointment follows a series of deliberate moves by Raymond James to construct a formal AI leadership structure.
In February last year, the firm promoted Stuart Feld – a Raymond James veteran who joined in 2018 and previously served as senior vice president and head of front office technology – to the newly created role of chief artificial intelligence officer. In that capacity, Feld serves as the firm's principal AI architect, responsible for enterprise-wide innovation and applying emerging technologies to advisor- and client-facing services.
In September, the firm added David Solganik as head of AI strategy, working under Feld to identify growth opportunities through advanced analytics and machine learning.
While Ford won't be reporting to Feld, both are in the same organization under Raymond James' CIO working on its enterprise tech and AI capabilities, a representative at the firm confirmed to InvestmentNews.
Vin Campagnoli, executive vice president of technology and operations at Raymond James, framed the firm's investment in those terms. "As we continue to advance our technology and AI capabilities, our focus remains on investing in the talent and resources to deliver tools that empower financial professionals, enhance efficiency and create meaningful value for clients," Campagnoli said.
The leadership build-out runs alongside a widening array of AI tools deployed to the firm's advisor network.
In January, Raymond James launched its proprietary concierge AI agent Rai – which would later be rebranded to Raimond – to handle operational support tasks for advisors and their teams. Since then, it has expanded the tool to a few hundred advisors and focus groups, according to CEO Paul Shoukry, who said during the company's second-quarter earnings call in April that early feedback had been strong.
The firm has also rolled out a generative AI search function within its internal knowledge databases, integrated Zoom AI meeting summaries with its customer relationship management system, and introduced an AI note assistant designed to reduce administrative time for advisors.
In May, it announced an AI Academy education program to support advisors in adopting those tools through hands-on learning – part of what the firm has described as a $975 million annual technology budget.
Despite the firm's aggressive technology investments, Raymond James executives have been deliberate in positioning AI as a complement to – rather than a substitute for – the advisor-client relationship. Shoukry told investors during the company's April earnings call that even as AI tools improve, the depth of the personal bond between advisor and client remains the firm's defining competitive advantage.
"When you see the advisor relationship with clients, there's no doubt that the deeply personal relationships that advisors have with clients trump any kind of technology or AI bot that may exist in the future," Shoukry said.
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