After Day 91: Wealth Firms Reassess AI, Training

Wealth management firms typically complete compliance training, licensing paperwork and team introductions in the first 90 days. After day 91 they face decisions about where to apply artificial intelligence, how to preserve on-the-job learning and whether to adopt formal AI use policies and coaching programs.

Historically, the period following onboarding began a six-to-eight-year stretch in which junior advisors learned by doing: researching client questions, drafting emails, preparing meeting notes and handling product setups such as 529 plans. Those routine tasks gave repeated practice in product knowledge, process and client communication.

AI tools can generate research, draft client emails and prepare notes, shortening the time it takes a junior advisor to complete those tasks. Dan Daum, founder and CEO of WealthStream, noted technology can remove years of repetitive work and allow capable newcomers to be productive sooner.

John O’Connell, founder and CEO of the Oasis Group, described how completing tasks such as setting up a 529 taught new staff both the product and the steps of client communication and warned that automated drafting can remove that learning. “All that goes away if artificial intelligence can simply write the email.”

A survey by FP Transitions and the Finserv Foundation found 47% of next-generation advisors feared job displacement from AI, and 64% worried about overreliance on automation or a loss of human interaction. The same survey found 73% of advisors said employer prioritization of AI adoption and training is at least moderately important over the next three years.

Firms are considering acceptable-use policies that list approved tools and set guardrails on when AI should not be used. O’Connell suggested firms should restrict AI from performing work that defines a firm’s core services, for example preventing AI from producing financial planning work if planning is the firm’s main offering.

Firms can audit entry-level workflows to identify tasks AI will reduce and then redesign onboarding around remaining hands-on experiences. Daum urged a focus on coaching in interpersonal skills and client-facing practice to maintain the human elements of advice.

Elise Rogers, vice president of marketing at FP Transitions, said firms still need clear pathways that let junior advisors learn, make mistakes and build client relationships even as automation increases. Firms must decide how much automation to deploy in early-career roles, how to structure training and how to recruit candidates who expect AI support.