You Can’t Spell Advisor without AI

The numbers clearly show that wealth managers are moving toward an AI future.

They also show that – at least for now – they don’t know how to get there.

Approximately 95 percent of financial services and wealth management professionals plan to increase AI investment in the next three years, and 68  percent consider it important for future competitiveness, according to MSCI’s Wealth Trends 2026 report.

Nevertheless, despite that overwhelmingly supportive forecast surrounding the future adoption of AI, the MSCI study, which surveyed 250 wealth managers worldwide, indicated that many financial advisors are still unsure of how to best integrate the technology into their practices. While nearly all firms plan to increase investment in AI tools, the report showed that 44 percent believe the wealth segment’s AI adoption rate lags the broader financial services industry. Furthermore, only 27 percent feel wealth managers are leading the rest of the industry.

“I’m surprised many advisors say AI isn’t critical yet,” says Michael Mignosi, senior director of organic growth at Perigon Wealth Management. “Wealth management is still fundamentally a relationship business and technology doesn’t replace trust, but it certainly helps on many levels.”Early on, Mignosi used AI mainly for productivity, such as content drafting, research, and helping advisors translate complex financial topics into clearer client communication. Now, he’s moving toward a more architectural approach, connecting AI across systems so that better data at the prospecting stage can inform onboarding and ultimately create more personalized client experiences.

“We approach AI with continuous experimentation and a scientific mindset. The goal isn’t just adopting tools but learning quickly and reducing the technology fragmentation that has slowed innovation in our industry,” Mignosi says.

Meanwhile, Jason Hanavan, president and CFO at VestGen Wealth Partners, utilizes AI to identify M&A targets, recruit advisors, and drive strategic growth, while his advisors use it for notetaking, follow-ups, and task management after meetings with clients and prospects.

“Our AI tool integrates with our CRM, performance reporting system, and planning software to deliver a comprehensive data view. Our technology team uses AI to execute certain data migration tasks related to custodian and CRM data,” Hanavan says.

Elsewhere, Jacob Roos, a financial advisor with 49 Financial, is using AI most intentionally on the learning and development side of the business. He recently launched a tool called Virtual Coach, an AI-powered practice environment where advisors and leaders can rehearse client conversations with an avatar trained on the firm’s language and methodology.

“On the client side, I also use tools like Finmate to capture notes, key numbers, and specific quotes during conversations,” says Roos. “That allows me to stay fully present in the discussion, ask better follow-up questions, and focus on what the client is actually saying rather than worrying about documentation.”

IS THE PRICE OF AI RIGHT?

When it comes to budgeting for AI investments, Tim Thornberry, financial planner at Prudential Advisors and founding partner of Cornerstone Financial Partners, says he measures AI investment by what it unlocks, not what it saves. In his view, the real return is an advisor who can think more deeply, analyze more rigorously, and deliver better outcomes for clients.

“That’s the lens we apply,” Thornberry says, adding that the enterprise’s investments also give his team access to sophisticated tools without bearing the full cost, enabling him to “focus our own spend where it directly improves client experience.”

Perigon’s Mignosi, for one, does not treat AI as a separate budget category. It’s increasingly embedded across his technology stack, from marketing tools to CRM and data infrastructure.

“One advantage we have is agility. At our size, we can move faster than many larger, more traditional firms that are constrained by layers of legacy systems and red tape,” Mignosi says.

His approach is to test new capabilities, measure the impact, and scale what works. If it helps advisors prospect more effectively, improves the client experience, or frees up advisor bandwidth for more meaningful conversations, it earns a place in his stack.

For his part, VestGen’s Hanavan is more than doubling the amount of third-party spend on AI tools in 2026, and he expects to continue to increase this investment in the coming years.

“We view AI as a tool that increases advisor capacity to be able to provide services to more clients,” Hanavan says.

And then 49 Financial’s Roos views AI as an accelerator embedded across multiple functions, including training, advisor productivity, and client engagement. And because the space is evolving quickly, he’s less focused on large upfront investments and more on iterative adoption − or, more specifically, on testing tools to see what’s working and scaling the ones that demonstrably improve advisor effectiveness or client experience.

AI TEN YEARS FROM NOW

Looking out a decade from now, Mignosi thinks AI will ultimately make the human side of advice even more important. As AI automates research, preparation, and documentation, he sees it freeing advisors to spend more time understanding clients and guiding them through important financial decisions. He also foresees a shift in how trust is built between advisors and clients, as well as prospects.

“Historically, firms relied heavily on thought leadership content to demonstrate credibility. But with AI, everyone can generate expert-level information instantly. Clients and prospects are already coming to meetings with more sophisticated questions because they’ve explored topics through AI. When everyone can sound like an expert, the real differentiator becomes the human dimension,” Mignosi says.

Similarly, over the next decade, Roos thinks AI will increasingly handle the operational load that has historically consumed much of advisors’ time, which will free them up for more client-facing, relational work, “which is what clients really value.”

“Ultimately, I see AI strengthening the human side of the profession rather than replacing it,” Roos says. “The advisors who win in that future will be the ones who use technology to deepen relationships, not distance themselves from them.” 

Finally, Cornerstone’s Thornberry thinks the advisors who win in the end won’t be the ones who adopted AI first. They’ll be the ones who learned to ask better questions with it.

“For us, AI’s biggest promise is connecting the dots across tax planning, business succession, estate strategy, and investments − faster and more precisely than ever before,” says Thornberry. “The goal is always the same: better thinking, deeper planning, lasting results for our clients.”