• Based on insights from LSEG’s latest global wealth report, AI is shifting the advisor role from information gathering to insight orchestration, with intelligence increasingly embedded directly into workflows and decision-making.
• The research shows firms are using AI to automate routine tasks and surface relevant insights, freeing advisors to focus on higher-value work such as client engagement, judgement and portfolio guidance.
• Rather than replacing advisors, AI is elevating their role, with leading firms using it to deliver more personalised, timely and context-aware advice at scale.

Is AI a friend or foe to the wealth advisor? It is a question facing financial professionals around the world. Artificial intelligence is reshaping the advisor experience faster than any previous technology — but not in the way many expected. Our latest research finds that, rather than replacing advisors, AI is increasingly being used to enhance their capabilities, embedding intelligence directly into workflows and improving the quality and relevance of advice. The result is a fundamental shift in how advisors spend their time, how they engage with clients and, ultimately, how value is delivered.

From information gathering to insight orchestration
As firms move from pilots to production, AI is becoming a core part of the advisor desktop and investment office. Historically, advisors spent a significant share of their day gathering information: pulling portfolio data, reviewing research and preparing for client meetings. 

AI is rapidly changing that model. With generative AI and internal tools, advisors can search large repositories of firm data in natural language, quickly identify relevant insights and summarise complex information. Instead of manually compiling data, they can focus on selecting, prioritising and interpreting the insights that matter most.

Nearly six in ten firms already use AI to deepen client analysis, and close to half are creating highly customised products, raising expectations for proactive, always-on, personalised service. In addition, firms have begun adopting generative AI to produce content, synthesise documents and generate meeting summaries.

In this model, the value of the advisor lies less in access to information and more in the ability to translate that information into meaningful action.

Redefining the advisor’s role
Crucially, AI is elevating the advisor’s role rather than diminishing it. AI tools can enhance advisors’ interpersonal skills and relationship management, allowing them to focus on judgement, narrative and the emotional side of money. The skills that become more valuable in this model are distinctly human: empathy, active listening, the ability to frame complex trade-offs and the judgement to know when to challenge or reassure a client.

Removing friction from advisor workflows
AI is also reducing friction across day-to-day advisor workflows. Automation now handles previously manual tasks such as capturing and summarising meeting notes, pre-populating compliance fields, updating CRM records and drafting client communications.

For example, in our recent study, the majority of wealth firms are using AI to empower advisors to perform tasks such as analysing feedback from client surveys, emails and CRM notes (57%), creating personalised communications for clients (56%), reading and summarising complex documents (54%), and identifying customer segments based on preferences, lifestyle and other parameters (51%).

For many firms, this is not just a marginal efficiency gain. It represents a meaningful shift in how time is allocated. Hours previously spent on administration can be redirected towards higher-value activities such as client engagement, relationship building and portfolio guidance.

From early adoption to the next wave of AI
While much of today’s progress is driven by generative AI, the next phase of development is already emerging. Over the next three years, firms plan to expand into multimodal, explainable and agentic AI to analyse more complex data, increase transparency and take on tasks traditionally managed by people. This next wave of AI innovation will give firms the tools to make a step change in their transformation strategies.

The emerging blueprint for the advisor experience is clear: AI handles the heavy lifting on information and process; advisors bring context, nuance and human connection. Firms that get this balance right will not only improve productivity, but also build stronger, more distinctive client relationships at scale.

The advisor isn’t disappearing — the role is being redefined
The future of the advisor is not being automated away — it is being redefined.

AI is shifting the role of the advisor from managing information to delivering insight, and from executing processes to shaping outcomes. By removing friction and improving access to intelligence, AI allows advisors to focus on what matters most: understanding clients, providing guidance and building trust.

Firms that strike the right balance — combining intelligent systems with human judgement — will not only improve productivity, but also deliver more personalised, consistent and differentiated advice at scale.

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