In a world where information is available to everyone, anytime, and without limits, the way providers and customers interact has fundamentally changed. For customers, this means: decisions are made faster, more easily, and with less direct contact to a provider. From the providers’ perspective, established interaction patterns are beginning to falter.
Driven by generative AI, new engagement layers are emerging: digital assistants, recommenders, and interaction interfaces that will increasingly dominate customer relationships. Customer touchpoints, once considered central access points, are losing relevance. Mobile-first strategies that rely solely on strong UI and UX will no longer suffice.
In wealth management and private banking, this shift is particularly evident in the way information is sourced and client research is conducted. In addition, wealth management providers prepare increasingly for virtual collaboration models.
However, when clients begin searching for solutions – or at least a pre-selection of competent partners – via future engagement layers, the decision-making process is increasingly influenced by AI-driven systems. In the worst-case scenario, the role of the bank could be reduced to a subordinate function as the “supply chain,” where AI-enabled systems become the gatekeepers.
The key question is:
"How do firms remain relevant in a world where AI-driven engagement layers determine the selection of content and solution providers?"
Our answer is the winning formula CPI: content, process and interaction
Content: uncopiable and truly relevant
To succeed tomorrow, providers need content with real substance. It is not the 317th market report that matters, but unique perspectives, personal access to decision-makers, individual analyses, or exclusive events. Tailored investment opportunities or customised solutions are essential.
As digitalisation and tokenisation drives the democratisation of services that were once exclusive, creativity is required to deliver relevant content, products, and value-added communication. The art lies in making the added value of such services easy to find, while keeping the services themselves available only on an exclusive basis. Discretion, exclusivity, and creative solutions that inspire trust and deliver real value are the currency of the future.
Process: automated and seamless
The journey from research via a touchpoint to contract conclusion must be frictionless across channels, intuitive, and fully automated – for both new and existing clients. Any friction will be ruthlessly penalised by AI systems that compare providers.
Private banks would not win more clients or volumes through additional display ads, but through simple processes and targeted network effects. Process quality thus becomes a prerequisite just to remain visible in the selection criteria of AI layers.
This links back to what Marc N. Mettler has described in his previous article When Barriers Kill Growth: friction, unnecessary complexity, or poorly designed digital processes are often the silent killers of client acquisition and growth.
Even when a client engages within the bank’s own channels, process efficiency remains critical – for example, in holistic asset simulations including risk assessments. Customers are increasingly impatient when it comes to waiting for solutions and deep insights.
Interaction: network strategy and community building
Continuous, personalised engagement is essential for building and maintaining trust. The relevance of a provider will increasingly be measured by how actively existing clients interact with them and with each other. This is especially true for the next generation, as they will likely select a relevant set of providers, before they realise their new net worth.
People trust people – recommendations and peer voices are often more powerful than any marketing message, yet also the hardest currency in the digital age. That is why network posts, exclusive client events, or co-creation formats with feedback loops and social listening will become decisive drivers of relevance.
Interaction therefore does not just mean digital outreach – it also means activating communities and referral programs that turn clients into advocates. Providers who succeed in transforming clients into a community that inspires and recommends each other shield themselves from comparability and maximise their independence from purely AI-driven engagement layers. The larger the community, and the stronger client loyalty and referral management, the greater the likelihood that clients will approach providers directly – or at least define a top 3 selection in their engagement layer prompts.
Conclusion
Private banks, wealth managers, and others will inevitably lose certain direct customer touchpoints to new engagement layers.
The art lies not in clinging to old channels, but in repositioning. Exclusive and personalised content ensures differentiation. Seamless processes prevent friction and exclusion. Strong interaction builds trust and network effects. Those who begin implementing CPI consistently today will build a protective shield against interchangeability through AI and new engagement layers.
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