Every wave of technology arrives with a promise and a worry. The promise is time. The worry is that something human gets lost.
The research settles both. Clients like the tools. They also still very much want you.
They are enjoying the ride
EY found that 69 per cent of clients believe technology has made investing cheaper and 57 per cent say digital tools improved their decisions (1). That is your clients telling you the tools are working.
There is one gentle caution in the same research. Around a third feel their wealth relationship has become a little less personal (1). That is not an argument against technology. It is an invitation to use it thoughtfully, which is exactly what good advisers do anyway.
Your clients trust you with something remarkable
This is the finding worth framing. EY found more people will share personal data with their wealth manager than with their doctor, as long as they get more relevant service in return. Seventy two per cent will happily share their financial goals (2).
Their doctor. That is the level of trust the profession has earned.
It comes with one simple condition. Clients keep sharing while they can see it produces something. Give them their goals back as visible progress and the trust keeps growing.
Artificial intelligence is welcome, on your terms
The permission is already granted. EY found 60 per cent of clients expect their wealth manager to use artificial intelligence and half of millennial clients trust it as much as or more than a human adviser, provided their data stays private (2).
Advisers are enthusiastic too. Research cited by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards found 96 per cent of advisers believe generative artificial intelligence can transform client service (3).
The best uses are the quiet ones. Meeting preparation. File notes. First drafts you review, correct and make your own. Reviews flagged before they fall due. All of it clearing space for the part only you can do.
Because the valuable things stay exactly where they are. Trust, judgement, reading the room and owning the advice belong to the adviser (3). Technology simply hands you back the hours to do them well.
Safety is the foundation, not an afterthought
Deloitte spoke with thirty five technology leaders at wealth firms worldwide. Protecting client assets and data came first, ahead of shiny new features (4). The pattern that worked was straightforward. Build on solid ground, prove it holds, then move quickly. Firms that did it in that order went further and faster (4).
That is reassuring rather than restrictive. It means the careful path and the fast path turn out to be the same path.
Behind our recent work
Artificial intelligence is coming to AstuteWheel in the places the research supports. Client relationship management assistance, automation and modelling tools that sit beside you, not in front of your client. Security is the ground it is built on.
Come and see the first look on Wednesday 12 August at 12pm, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane time. The aim is not to make advice automatic. It is to make advisers irreplaceable.
References
1. EY (2021) How Digitalization Can Drive Personalization in Wealth Management. EY.
2. EY Global (2025) How Wealth Managers Can Leverage Complexity for Competitive Advantage. EY Global.
3. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (2025) Leading the Future: Harnessing AI in the Financial Planning Profession. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.
4. Deloitte Global (2026) From Ambition to Execution: Wealth Management Technology. Deloitte Global.
