As Craig Iskowitz set the stage for an AI-focused roundtable discussion with some of wealthtech’s most recognizable brands, he led with a trio of quotes that speak to the current craze surrounding those two letters.
The first two quotes, from Accenture and a U.N. agency, were about how the technology is poised to make the business landscape even more competitive and that countries with the highest rate of AI usage are currently seeing the lowest unemployment rates, respectively.
Ezra Group
The third quote, from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, was more ominous but no less complimentary about the power of AI to supercharge any industry it touches.
“His quote is, ‘AI will probably lead us to the end of the world. But in the meantime, it will help build some great companies,'” said Iskowitz, founder and CEO of strategy consulting firm Ezra Group. “I don’t think the end of the world is coming anytime soon with AI, but there are some great companies on the panel here.”
Last week, Iskowitz served as moderator of the AI & Automation Summit for Financial Advisors, a nearly two-hour-long virtual event aimed at growth-minded advisors and wealth managers itching to weave the latest AI technology into their practices.
Part discussion and part presentation, the event featured speakers Josh Smith, CEO of VRGL; Andrew Altfest, CEO of FP Alpha; Anand Sheth, CEO of Pulse360; and Rick Williamson, director of training at Redtail.
The summit also included a special appearance from Snappy Kraken’s Angel Gonzalez, who gave the first live demonstration of the “AI Content Helper,” a new capability coming to the financial services marketing platform.
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Along with exploring the distinctions between technologies like generative AI, machine learning and robotic process automation, the summit focused on practical applications of AI that advisors can take advantage of today.
To illustrate that, the speakers showed a complete prospect journey facilitated by AI-powered tools currently available from the participating companies. From first contact to follow-up client communication, the audience saw how an advisor armed with these tools can deliver increased functionality without adding more hours to their day.
“I was in the advisor world for two decades,” Sheth said. “I am really upset this technology wasn’t there for me two decades ago, because it would have saved a ton of time.”
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Pulse360
When the demos were done, the panelists dove deep on some of the burning questions surrounding artificial intelligence’s impact on wealth management, including one observers have been asking since ChatGPT burst into the mainstream in November 2022: As AI takes center stage, will it push human advisors into the background?
No chance, said Iskowitz and the panelists. They instead highlighted the ability of AI to drive human engagement as opposed to discouraging it.
“[End clients] are being inundated with different examples of AI, whether they know it or not. … They’re going to start expecting that from their advisory experience as well,” Iskowitz said. “And the more firms use AI, the more their employees become engaged. It doesn’t disengage employees and cause employees to be laid off. It causes them to be more engaged because they’re freed up.
“The work that they’re normally doing manually building spreadsheets, manually exporting data, building reports manually from different systems can be automated in AI. And those employees can then move up the food chain, up the value chain, and provide more value and do things that are of higher value for their clients.”
Scroll down to check out some of the most important takeaways from the summit regarding AI security, implementation and innovation in wealth management.