AI is no longer a side story for the advisory industry – it is the story

A few years ago, if I'd used AI to help in the production of a story, I would have been marched out of the newsroom. Today, like many of my colleagues, I'm leaning on it more and more – for research, sharpening angles, and speeding up routine work. The job hasn't disappeared; it has changed. The same dynamic is now bearing down on financial advisors, broker-dealers, and RIAs.

Orion's annual Advisor Wealthtech Survey underscored just how central AI is becoming: more than half of respondents said AI and automation will have the biggest impact on firm success in 2026 and beyond.

Yet the survey also highlighted friction points most firms will recognize: uncertainty around compliance and regulation, anxiety about accuracy and client trust, and a shortage of internal AI expertise or training. The wealth industry is convinced AI matters, but it's far less certain about how to adopt it safely and intelligently.

For many firms, AI conversations start – and potentially stall – in the compliance department. At the recent Exchange ETF conference in Las Vegas, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce described getting "an earful" during meetings with compliance officers. They "want to use AI," she said, but they feel like they're "walking into some landmines on the regulatory side."

Her response should be carefully noted by anyone leading an RIA or broker-dealer: "My view is that we don't need a rule that is specifically for AI unless we see problems that are specifically tied to AI."

As for the technology itself, advisors have every right to be skeptical of something that sometimes "hallucinates." While that's an annoyance for consumers, it's a risk in a regulated environment.

But it is getting better by the day. The building blocks of AI are being constantly fine-tuned, boosting accuracy and precision.

Building client trust is a mountain advisors should be able to climb – trust, after all, is the cornerstone of the advice industry. Openness is key, and advisors should spell out both the benefits and limits of AI. Make it crystal clear where AI ends and human oversight begins; as InvestmentNews has reported, the human-in-the-loop remains the defining line between smart adoption and costly exposure.

If you feel behind on AI, you're not alone. A recent survey of 5,000 knowledge workers in large companies across the US, Canada, and the UK found that, three years after the release of ChatGPT, most people are still AI beginners. Less than 3 percent of the workforce currently qualifies as AI practitioners or experts, according to the research by AI workforce transformation firm Section.

Yes, this is a training challenge, particularly for smaller firms, but it's also an opportunity – early, disciplined adopters can quickly build a lead over their rivals. Firms like Savvy Wealth are already showing what's possible when AI is built into the full advisory stack from the ground up, rather than bolted on as an afterthought. Now is the time to identify the "AI champions" in your business and let them lead.

Quite simply, your career could hinge on how quickly you get to grips with AI. Half of the CEOs recently surveyed by Boston Consulting Group said that their job is on the line if AI doesn't pay off. That pressure is already showing up at the firm level, with some RIAs making aggressive bets on replacing advisor headcount with AI-driven tools entirely.

In virtually every industry, AI may be the biggest wave that any of us have seen. But, whether you're a journalist or an RIA, we all have to ride it.