Wealthtech startup Powder on Wednesday announced the formation of a 10-member client advisory board (CAB) it said will serve as a consortium of industry experts with the mission of driving AI adoption that “optimizes operations and fuels new discoveries.”
Powder has been developing generative AI agents to automate time-consuming tasks for wealth managers.
“Firms are continually asking us for more features and leaning into guiding our product roadmap,” Powder CEO Kanishk Parashar told WSR. “It became obvious that organizing a CAB would yield better results due to high degree of coordination.”
The biggest AI challenges that the industry now faces include the “rapid pace of AI change,” Parashar said. “The generative-AI space evolves quickly (new models, regulatory/GDPR-type concerns, model risk frameworks). Advisors must keep pace to provide timely solutions to their clients.”
Technology adoption and trust are also challenging, he told WSR. “Generative AI is newer in the advisor workflow; some firms may hesitate because of concerns about accuracy, compliance, data security, and change management.”
Another huge challenge is compliance and regulation, he added. “Advisors operate under SEC/FINRA rules, privacy concerns, and auditability. Integrating AI into advisory workflows raises questions of model risk, audit trails, training data, (and] data ownership.”
“Our CAB partners are the pivotal ingredient we’ll mix with our world-class technology team,” Parashar said in a news release.
“By combining their deep industry expertise with our engineering talent, we can create AI that doesn’t just automate tasks, but works alongside wealth managers like a true team member,” according to Parashar.
He added, “Together, we’ll focus on building agentic workflows that solve real-world problems and redefine how firms operate at scale.”
Members of Powder’s CAB already have created “meaningful improvements in efficiency and client service,” the firm said.
"Our business model at SCS is predicated on providing white-glove service to the ultra-high-net-worth and family office community,” Marcelo Vedovatto, that company’s Chief Operating Officer and a CAB member, said in the news release.
Vedovatto added, “Powder has been instrumental in helping us deliver on this commitment by enabling our people to work more efficiently and focus on delivering comprehensive and insightful investment analysis to enhance our client experience.”
Noting that wealth management is at a “pivotal moment,” Dave Breslin, Executive Vice President at GC Wealth and another CAB member, predicted “AI won’t replace advisors, but it will redefine how we advise — shifting our time from repetitive tasks to deeper conversations, sharper insights, and more scalable excellence.”
Agreeing, Ryan Fedricks, Partner at Plante Moran and a CAB member, said, “Powder enables us to shift from data entry to dialogue—freeing time to engage prospects thoughtfully and deliver the personalized experience they expect.”
Echoing Fedricks, Steve Kuhn, Executive Director of Investment Policy at OnePoint BFG and another CAB member, said, “Powder streamlines our highly customized investment proposal process—enabling us to craft polished, client-specific deliverables tailored to each individual’s needs in hours instead of days.”
Hannah Kim, Senior Wealth Associate at BakerAvenue and another CAB board member, said, “Powder has significantly optimized our proposal workflow, by enabling a faster turnaround and transforming what previously took days into a streamlined, more efficient process.”
The other CAB members are Bhavika Booragadda, Head of Operations at IEQ Capital; Christine Leong Connors, Co-Founder and CEO of Verita Strategic Wealth Partners; Zane Keller, CEO of Ducere Wealth Management; Rick Nott, Managing Director at Angeles Wealth Management; and Kevin Thornton, Head of Sales at AE Wealth Management.
CAB will meet quarterly and collaborate on projects throughout the year, “working closely” with Powder’s product and engineering teams, Powder said.
The CAB membership team was finalized in early October and “work is already underway,” Parashar told WSR. The first CAB official meetings will be in the fourth quarter, he said.
Jeff Berman, Contributing Editor and Reporter at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at jeff.berman@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
