The robots have arrived. GPT is in your planning software. AI is writing emails, summarizing meetings and telling your junior planner what to say in client reviews.
It’s tempting to think we’re entering a new era of wealth management. In some ways, we are. But here’s the hard truth no one wants to say out loud:
Technology doesn’t replace discipline. AI doesn’t replace execution.
In the rush to “future-proof” their firms, many advisors and wealth leaders are making the same mistakes, playing “dress up” with generative AI output and cloaking themselves with software as a service user interface (SaaS UI). It’s like putting ChatGPT on the Iron Throne and expecting it to govern like it’s Ned Stark. For those firms, winter is coming.
Here’s where it’s going sideways and how you can fix it.
AI Pitfall #1: Believing Adoption = Transformation
No one has ever said, “I need more logins.” Nope. You need more follow-through.
Yes, four in five advisors are using AI in some capacity and 64% of those who aren’t plan to soon, according to a Betterment Advisor Solutions 2024 survey. While that’s impressive adoption, it’s potentially useless in terms of moving the industry forward.
Buying a tool doesn’t make you modern. Adopting one doesn’t make you different. What matters is whether your team is consistently using it to improve client outcomes, not just wow them with auto-summaries and snappy phrasing. Clients can’t em dash themselves to their financial goals.
Adding AI to a broken financial planning process is like giving a lightsaber to a stormtrooper. It’s shiny. It might scare people. But you’re still going to miss.
AI Pitfall #2: Automating Before You Operationalize
Some advice: Do not pass “Go.” Do not skip straight to automation. Automating data capture, meeting prep and content generation before you’ve done the hard work of defining workflows is a fast way to a bad path. You cannot scale what you haven’t standardized.
Top-performing advisory firms use systematization as their base layer. According to 2024 research from Kitces, the most productive teams are those that run a 1+2 structure (1 lead advisor with 2 support staff) and operate with a defined, repeatable service model. AI makes them faster. It doesn’t make them functional.
Don’t automate chaos. Systematize, then scale. I understand that in times like today you have to run before you can walk, but you need to make sure you’ve at least stood up first.
AI Pitfall #3: Focusing On Output, Ignoring Outcomes
There’s something intoxicating about seeing AI spit out a clean, client-ready communication or proposal in under a minute. But here’s the question most firms aren’t asking: Did it move the client closer to action?
AI can generate insights. But execution lives in decisions made, accounts funded, risks covered and documents signed. As I wrote recently, I truly believe “Execution is the New Alpha.”
Case in point: In the latest T3/Inside Information survey, more than 83% of advisors now use financial planning software, but advisors are underutilizing available features that would allow them to, for instance, drive ongoing plan updates or measure outcomes.
The output looks great. The outcomes? Often still TBD.
AI Pitfall #4: Expecting AI To Handle The Human Work
The more advanced the technology, the more important it is to remember: Money is human. It’s emotional, irrational, fearful, hopeful and often unpredictable.
This is not AI’s strong suit.
Clients don’t come to financial advisory firms for efficient outputs, they come seeking understanding, reassurance and someone who knows why the numbers matter.
According to Northwestern Mutual’s 2024 Planning & Progress study, 87% of millionaire clients say working with an advisor gives them more financial clarity and confidence. The caveat? According to a 2025 CFP Board study, “Building trust means knowing and understanding the client’s needs and desires.”
AI can’t provide empathy. It can’t feel nuance. And it certainly can’t help a couple navigate the emotional complexity of estate planning with a blended family.
When clients feel all the feels, they need something more than a machine. Like Jerry Maguire says to Dorothy Boyd: They want to know you “complete” their plan.
AI Pitfall #5: Forgetting That Execution Is Still The Alpha
The most dangerous belief in wealth management today is that adopting AI is the strategy.
It’s not.
Strategy is deciding who you serve, how you serve them and how you do it consistently. AI can make that faster, but it can’t make you better unless your systems, people and processes are aligned.
Not just in client delivery but across your whole business:
- In how you onboard and train.
- In how you ensure tech gets used the right way, every time.
- In how your firm delivers the same experience in Chicago as it does in Austin. The same in Cheboygan as in Las Cruces.
Diamond Consultants wrote in their 2024 report that the top advisors changing firms aren’t just chasing better comp, they’re chasing platforms that allow them to execute better for their clients.
The Reality Check
AI is real. It’s powerful. It’s only going to get more embedded in how our industry serves clients. But if you’re expecting it to fix processes, replace judgment or build culture, you may be the one hallucinating.
The firms that will avoid the pitfalls – the firms that will win in the next five years – are the ones who understand this:
You don’t need better tools. You need better execution of the ones you already have.
Execution was the alpha before AI. It still is.
And in a world where everyone has the same tools, execution is the only edge left.
Ryan George is the Chief Marketing Officer of Docupace.
This editorial is published under WSR’s partner program and was not written by WSR’s staff or editors. For more info on how to participate in the partner program, contact zack.drew@wealthsolutionsreport.com. Views expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of WSR.
