What to expect from AI in financial advice in 2025
Nick Eatock, CEO of intelliflo
Generative AI exploded into our collective consciousness in 2023 with the launch of tools like ChatGPT. In 2024, major tech firms sought to leverage its benefits, embedding artificial intelligence functionality into our laptops and smartphones with the expansion of tools like Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Apple Intelligence. Within the advice profession too, several new technology suppliers have launched sector-specific services that help firms capitalise on AI to improve financial advice processes. Given the significant steps taken in the last two years, what does 2025 hold for AI?
The rise of generative AI in financial advice
AI has already taken root in many of our daily lives, powering everything from weather updates and entertainment recommendations to health tracking and device security. However, in our sector, AI tools have so far been largely focused on supporting a few small areas of the advice process. According to Platforum’s latest adviser research, 20% of firms are now using AI to transcribe client meetings, but how many firms are using its potential beyond replacing manual note-taking?
I believe in the next twelve months, we’ll see the list of use cases within the advice journey grow significantly to help firms seize the opportunities offered by AI. We’ll see it used in a range of areas to not only drive adviser efficiency but also enhance the client experience and improve outcomes through greater personalisation and more consistency of advice.
And this is really good news for the profession. The advice sector has always prided itself on the strength of its client relationships, but it also has to deal with enormous amounts of red tape, compliance and process. If AI can reduce some of these complexities and give human advice professionals more time to develop a deeper understanding of their clients, that’s a win for everyone.
Overcoming barriers to AI implementation
However, we know that one of the barriers to embracing AI is that firms are concerned about how best to implement it. Our marketwide advice efficiency research last year found that nearly three-quarters of firms believe integrating AI into the advice journey is important, but 95% feel they don’t have the required skills within their business to do it effectively. Although most of us are familiar with tools like Alexa, Siri, Copilot and ChatGPT, moving from a mainstream consumer offering to something suitable for a highly regulated advice business can be daunting.
Choosing the right AI tools for your firm
In the advice sector today, there are six or seven relatively small vendors providing AI-driven services. Many of these look quite similar to each other from a functional perspective, which can make it difficult to choose between them and be confident you are making the right selection. When considering if these specialist tools are right for your firm, as with any third-party supplier, you should have a clear understanding of what the solution will do and how it will fit with your advice process. If you’re using AI to deliver efficiencies within your advice process, making sure that the chosen solution integrates with your other core systems is vital.
Undertaking proper due diligence on the provider is also important: what is their reputation and do they work with similar firms to yours? How do they manage your data and who owns the rights to it? Is the data shared with any third parties? How often is the tool updated to ensure it remains up to date with changing regulations or technology upgrades? Remember, you’re still responsible for all the information used within the advice process, even if it is supported by AI.
The future of AI in financial advice
Over the next 12 months, I think we’ll see an increase in these specialist tools from smaller vendors available to support different parts of the advice journey. But I also expect we’ll start to see more larger providers, like platforms and investment managers, making use of AI functionality to improve their offering.
Although AI technology still feels relatively new, it is moving at speed. It offers huge potential to improve the advice journey and unless firms embrace the opportunity, they risk losing out to competitors who do. At intelliflo, we’re trying to help firms capitalise on AI by working with a selection of specialist vendors to provide integrations with AI-driven tools. We’re also adding AI functionality within our own solutions to support different parts of the advice process. And we’re working on using AI to help firms make more of their data to add value to their services.
This year we’ll really see AI take hold in financial advice, with widespread use throughout the advice journey. By working with the right partners, AI can support human advisers to deliver better outcomes for both clients and firms. I think the next 12 months are going to be very exciting.
This article was first published in Professional Adviser on 16 January. Please find a link to the original piece here.