AI frees advisors’ time — are firms seeing revenue?

Independent financial advisors are adopting artificial intelligence at a faster pace, but measured financial returns remain limited. A 2026 Schwab RIA Benchmarking report found AI use among independent advisors more than doubled since 2023. A recent Boston Consulting Group analysis reported that only 6% of companies it examined saw cost reductions or increased revenue after adopting AI tools.

Schwab’s report found only about 10% of independent advisory firms have fully integrated AI into their business strategy. The remaining firms primarily deploy AI for administrative tasks such as note-taking, drafting routine emails and creating meeting summaries.

Those administrative uses reduce time spent on paperwork and documentation. Schwab’s data and the BCG analysis do not show a parallel rise in assets under management or firm revenue tied directly to those time savings.

Ric Edelman, founder of the country’s largest financial planning firm, has urged advisors to convert time freed by AI into client acquisition or servicing activities. The firm he founded manages approximately $350 billion for roughly 1.4 million households.

Some firms are applying analytics to track whether AI-driven efficiency affects revenue. Tracked measures include counts of new and follow-up client meetings, meeting length, documented follow-up actions, new AUM recorded after meetings and referral generation. Firms using such analytics compare advisor-level activity and outcomes across the firm and against benchmarks.

Practical examples from advisory practices show varied use of time saved. Some advisors report using an extra 45 minutes to prepare more deeply for the next meeting. Others report using the time to end the workday earlier. In those cases, firm-level metrics such as AUM growth and client satisfaction can remain steady even without an uptick in new business.

Industry guidance for realizing financial benefits from AI emphasizes converting saved hours into identifiable capacity for client-facing work. Recommended metrics to monitor include number of new client meetings, prospecting contacts, follow-up activities tied to meetings, conversion rates and AUM gained per activity. Firms can use AI to automate tracking and reporting of these metrics while keeping tax planning and relationship decisions with human advisors.

The Schwab benchmarking data and the BCG analysis raise questions for wealth-management firms and independent advisors about the link between current AI adoption and measurable revenue growth. The studies show faster adoption of AI but limited evidence so far that adoption alone leads to reduced costs or higher revenue.