So, AI in financial advice. The promise is pretty exciting, right? Faster report writing, automated meeting notes, compliance checking done in seconds. And here's the thing – what we’re seeing is that when firms get it right, it can deliver on that promise.
Across the industry, advisers and paraplanners are successfully bringing AI into their businesses. They're just finding it needs a bit more thought than "sign up and go." Let's look at what we think will help you get the most out of AI in your firm.
The firms getting this right all start with the same question: "What's the one thing that's driving us mad right now?"
Maybe it's meeting notes taking forever to transcribe. Maybe it's report drafting eating into your paraplanners' time. Maybe it's compliance checks creating bottlenecks. Whatever it is, get specific about what you want to solve before you start shopping around for solutions.
The tip: Write down the actual problem you're solving. Not "we want to be more efficient" - that's a bit woolly. Something concrete like "our paraplanners spend 3 hours a week transcribing meeting notes" or "compliance checking takes two days per report."
Once you're clear on that, you can pick a tool that specifically addresses it. And you'll know whether it's working or not.
Here's something interesting - the firms getting positive results aren't always using the fanciest tools. They're the ones who've put time into learning how to prompt effectively.
Think of it like briefing a new freelancer. The more detailed you are, the better the work you'll get back. Show them examples of what good looks like. Explain your firm's style. Give them context about what you need and why.
The tip: Start small. Use AI for simpler tasks first - checking quality, catching typos, tidying up formatting. Get comfortable with prompting before you tackle the complex stuff.
Give yourself time to learn this properly. Resources like Prompt Cowboy can help, but honestly, the real learning comes from trying things. Write a prompt, see what you get back, tweak it, try again. Each go makes you better at it.
Accept that, like with anything new, there's a settling-in period. Your first outputs might need a fair bit of correction. You'll be refining prompts. Adjusting templates. It takes a bit of time to get it working smoothly.
The difference between firms who stick with it and those who bail? They planned for this bit.
The tip: Be honest with your team upfront: there's going to be a 2-3 month learning period. Things might be a bit slower at first while you're all getting the hang of it. Frame it as an investment in making life easier down the line, not a magic wand.
Keep track of what you're learning as you go. Which prompts work well? What needs adjusting? Which tasks turn out to be brilliant for AI and which... less so? This stuff's worth noting down.
The firms getting real value from AI aren't just setting it up and walking away. They're actively refining based on what's working, and being honest about what isn't.
They're noticing things like "this works brilliantly for annual reviews but not so much for suitability reports" and adjusting accordingly. They're starting simple and adding complexity once they've nailed the basics. And crucially, they're tracking whether it's genuinely saving time.
The tip: Set up a regular way to gather feedback - weekly check-in, Teams channel, monthly review, whatever suits your firm. Just make it regular and actually do it.
Keep track of your time during the setup phase. How long are you spending fixing things? What's the quality like once it's running properly? How does it stack up against the old way?
If you're spending more time correcting something than it would take to just do it yourself, that's useful information. Maybe you need to tweak your approach. Or maybe that task just isn't a good fit for AI in your firm right now. Either way, you've learned something.
Start with one thing and get it working really well before you branch out. One solid win builds confidence and gives you a template for the next thing.
And don't be afraid to customise. Your templates are unique to you, your language is yours, your processes are yours. The more you tailor the AI to match how you actually work, the better it'll work for you.
Getting AI working well in your advice firm isn't about having the latest shiny tools or the most systems. It's about being strategic: clear problem, someone owning it, realistic timeline, ongoing tweaking.
The firms seeing genuine benefits started with specific pain points, invested time in learning how to use the tools properly, planned for a bedding-in period, and kept improving things as they went. They're freeing up time for more valuable work, cutting down on repetitive tasks, and getting more consistent quality.
But here's the thing, it doesn't work for everything (the robots aren’t taking over just yet!), and it doesn't work the same way for every firm. Some are finding certain tasks just aren't good AI candidates. Others are discovering that simpler, cheaper tools work better for them than the specialist options.
It's not magic, and it definitely doesn't happen overnight. But if you go in with realistic expectations and a willingness to iterate? It can work.
If you’re exploring AI but finding it hard to know where to start – or how to do it safely within your existing processes – check out our AI hot topic for a collection of expert insights and a library of watch-back webinars shining the spotlight on the tools available for advice firms.
Chez is digital lead at Verve, using her broad expertise in all things operational, processes and financial services itself to scope and manage our technology.
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