The return of human touch in a digital age

A TurboTax commercial caught my attention over the holiday break while I was intently watching football, cheering on my fantasy team. Intuit, the tech giant behind TurboTax, is opening brick-and-mortar offices. These aren’t pop-ups or seasonal kiosks. They are permanent storefronts staffed with credentialed professionals. For a company who tried to make human accountants obsolete, the move is telling.

It shows that even the most successful digital platforms recognize the premium of human interaction and presence.

Intuit’s decision is fascinating because it seems to run counter to the very narrative they helped create. This is the same company that turned millions of Americans into their own accountants and yet it is now investing heavily in physical offices.

Think about that for a moment. The company that digitized tax filing is now spending millions to re‑humanize it. Why? Because as they move upmarket to serve more complex filers like small business owners, investors and entrepreneurs, they need to earn trust. And trust is built by humans.

That same dynamic is playing out across the registered investment advisor (RIA) space. We’re local. We’re in the office. We sit across the table from clients and help them make sense of their wealth, their future and their legacy. Technology enhances how we serve, but it will never replace why clients choose us. Whether it’s robo-advisers or AI-powered tax preparation, the same lesson keeps surfacing: Complexity craves connection.

Understanding why complexity craves connection

Technology scales beautifully when things are simple. Filing a 1040-EZ is easy. Managing multi-entity investments, K-1s, capital gains strategies or the tax implications of business ownership is not.

As complexity increases, so does the need for judgment, reassurance and most importantly: trust. Humans excel at all three. They interpret nuance, understand emotion and provide confidence. When a financial life grows more layered, clients don’t want an algorithm. They want an adviser who can explain the “why”.

According to the 2023 EY Global Wealth Research Report, 68 percent of clients want more human interaction as financial decisions become more complex, even when digital tools are available. J.D. Power research shows satisfaction declines when human access is replaced by digital-only channels in financial services. Simply put, we don’t trust what we don’t understand.

The experience with robo-advisers reinforces this point. When they first emerged, they promised to disrupt wealth management with low fees, algorithmic precision and sleek apps. A decade later, the largest platforms have all added humans to their models. Betterment introduced human advisers in 2017. Schwab’s Intelligent Portfolios Premium includes unlimited access to CFP professionals. Even Vanguard now leads with its hybrid Personal Advisor Services model.

Why? Because trust does not scale through technology alone. Efficiency matters, but connection is what makes advice meaningful. For RIAs, Intuit’s move is validation. Even in highly digitized industries, success at the top end of the market depends on human relationships.

The home turf advantage

RIAs already have what Intuit is now trying to build: proximity and personal trust. We are embedded in communities and meet clients where they are. When something major happens in our clients’ lives, they don’t want a chatbot. They want a conversation with someone they trust- someone who understands their situation.

In an increasingly digital world, the differentiator is human presence. And that presence does not scale easily through automation. It scales through people, processes and shared values.

Efficiency meets empathy

Kudos to Intuit for making the pivot; but RIAs already have what Intuit seeks to acquire. At the end of the day, this isn’t a story about tax software or financial advice. It’s a story about trust, complexity and the enduring need for human connection. Whether it’s TurboTax opening storefronts, robo-advisers hiring CFPs or RIAs deepening client relationships, the pattern is consistent. As complexity rises, the premium on humanity increases.

That is the future of our industry, where efficiency meets empathy and automation supports authenticity.

When I saw that commercial, I didn’t just see a tech company moving into retail. I saw validation for advisers who still believe in showing up, listening first and building trust face to face. Because no matter how advanced technology becomes, complexity will always crave connection.

Dani Fava serves as chief strategy officer at Carson Group, leading enterprise strategy, growth initiatives and innovation for one of the industry’s leading wealth advisory firms.