A recent survey finds that, while many financial services company see value in adopting artificial intelligence tools, many are still waiting for the technology to evolve further before fully committing to adoption and implementation. The Broadridge 2025 Digital Transformation & Next-Gen Technology Study, of more than 500 financial services technology and operations leaders, offers a snapshot of how firms are approaching AI decisionmaking, expectations for return on investment and barriers they face to adoption.
Reports about the future of artificial intelligence in financial services promise the technology will someday deliver personalized advice and account management—at scale—for plan participants. While that day may come, and it may be relatively soon, plan advisers are already using AI for things like participant education and personalized chatbots that are already making their business more efficient.
Earlier this month, Vanguard made its first client-facing generative AI tool available to its 150,000 advisers to create content for client communications. The tool produces customizable synopses of Vanguard’s top-read market perspectives, personalized based on financial acumen, investing life stage and tone.
Also announced this week, Commonwealth Financial Network will be integrating technology from AI platform Zocks across Commonwealth’s adviser network, with a focus on scaling adviser efficiency by reducing manual data entry and strengthening continuity across client interactions.
“There is massive opportunity for [Banking and Financial Services] to become AI-First, leading with AI and automation to gain efficiencies, create new value, and drive competitive advantage, rather than continuing to lead with people and manual processes,” reads an April report, “Why, What, and How Financial Services Firms Can Be AI First,” from HFS Research and Infosys.
That report projected that BFS firms’ AI budgets would increase by 25% this year, expect to comprise 16% of tech budgets. Among those surveyed, the top AI investments were in data modernization (58%) and GenAI software (53%). The report found that the top use cases for AI are data analysis and process automation, along with marketing and software development.
Bidirectional Approach
Financial Finesse coaches benefit from AI assisting with follow-ups after client calls, nudging clients to take the steps discussed in the call. But it also works the other way, nudging potential clients who have interacted with the digital platform to call a coach for a conversation that requires human assistance.
“In that sense, the coaches are helped by the digital platforms; it’s not just the one direction,” says Edwin Jongsma, Financial Finesse’s vice president of AI and integration.
Research released this month from the Financial Planning Standards board shared findings similar to those in the HFS survey, with more than three-quarters of financial planners reporting they believe AI will help them better serve clients and 60% saying it will enhance the quality of advice. That study showed that two-thirds of firms either have or are planning to leverage AI in the next 12 months, and 50% of planners reported a positive view of AI.
Current Use Cases An April report from Capital Group outlined ways that advisers are already using AI in their practices, including:
Client meetings: Advisers are using AI notetakers to prep for meetings, create agendas, take notes during meetings and enter those notes in their customer relationship management tools. The report cited Kitces Report data showing that Zoom is the leading provider of AI notetaking software, with 27% of financial advisers using it, followed by Fathom (20%) and Jump (20%).
Client emails: With prompts, AI can either draft an email on behalf of an adviser or refine a draft that the sender can then edit. In addition to non-email applications like Grammarly and ChatGPT, the report highlighted the availability of built-in AI features from popular email providers, such as Microsoft Outlook and Google Gmail.
Marketing: AI use cases in marketing have expanded very quickly. Examples include creating outlines for quarterly presentations and generating ideas for social media posts. For advisers already doing that, AI can provide even deeper support, offering assistance in developing a marketing strategy, in addition to the content itself.
Large document analysis: There are several tools available to help financial professionals look at large documents, such as tax returns, powers of attorney and wills, to surface relevant information quickly.
Head start on tax planning: Some advisers are also turning to artificial intelligence tools to run scenario analysis that can help them more quickly understand the tax implications of decisions involving complicated money moves like equity compensation, Roth conversions and capital gains.
“Given how quickly AI is developing as a technology and how many companies are forming around its uses, the list of AI-powered tools that advisors have at their disposal will continue to grow and evolve,” the report stated.
Plan advisers might also be able to scale their sales department more efficiently with AI, says Amy Chou, the chief operating officer of the financial wellness platform Addition Wealth. Sales use cases include building better prospect lists (curated to their practice’s niche and geography) and automating outbound emails and calls.
“At the end of the day, [advisers] need to sell plans, they need to retain plans, and they also need to acquire the right clients,” she says. “That is a lot of different sales efforts, where, if you can prospect faster, prospect better and also be more personalized, you can win the clients at a higher rate.”
From Generative to Agentic The evolution of AI has it moving from generative AI, which creates content like text and images via prompts, to agentic AI, which can carry out tasks and make decisions according to set parameters. Ultimately, agentic AI will be able to execute transactions across multiple applications from multiple providers to solve participant or plan sponsor problems quickly and efficiently. For now, most agentic AI uses are occurring via internal or pilot programs, with few, if any, solutions available to the clients.
A survey from Wolters Kluwer released this week found that, while 6% of finance leaders reported currently employing agentic AI, a further 38% reported their intent to adopt agentic AI in the next 12 months. If 44%of finance teams use agentic AI in 2026, this would represent an increase of more than 600%.
Looking ahead, advisers face some challenges as they further incorporate AI into their workflows. According to the HFS/Infosys report, the top challenges are data quality and access; security and privacy; and talent. Only 23% of BFS enterprises surveyed have mature AI governance and risk management practices, the report found, and 45% of AI talent currently used by BFS firms is external.
