AI shifts RIA hiring toward client-facing roles

Cerulli Associates, working with Vista Equity Partners, surveyed 68 registered investment advisers between May and June and found firms are shifting hiring toward client-facing roles. Seventy-three percent plan to add junior advisors, 67% plan to hire client associates and 56% expect to add senior advisors over the next two years. In contrast, 23% plan to hire administrators, 18% marketers and 15% compliance specialists.

The report includes an AI Maturity Score to measure governance and readiness. Half of respondents fell in an “exploring” stage where employees use AI tools but use is not coordinated firm-wide and written policies, formal training and structured data are often lacking. Thirty-eight percent were in a “scaling” stage, using AI for client communications, meeting preparation and note-taking and putting AI use policies in place. Twelve percent were categorized as “leading,” applying AI across advisory and back-office functions. The average maturity score was 32 on a 0-to-100 scale.

Firms reported measurable benefits from early AI use. Sixty-four percent cited reduced time on administrative or manual tasks, 46% reported improved client communications and 33% said investment research was faster. Cerulli projected the portion of firms’ technology budgets devoted to AI would rise from about 8% to 15% by the end of the year.

Asher Cheses, senior director of wealth management at Cerulli Associates, noted many firms have paused administrative back-office hiring while they test which tasks AI can reliably automate. He observed that smaller, nimbler firms that assign an owner to AI projects and set clear governance often advance faster than larger firms with legacy systems.

Firms identified factors that drove internal adoption: appointing an “AI champion” (41%), grassroots adoption by staff (38%) and formal training programs (32%). Several respondents said time saved through AI is being reinvested to hire client-facing advisors or to upskill existing staff.

Survey respondents also reported barriers to broader AI use. Many lack written policies defining acceptable AI uses, have limited formal training and do not maintain data in formats optimized for AI tools. Firms expressed concern about regulatory scrutiny and the risk of exposing client data through AI systems, and some cited inertia around long-standing processes.

Dan Parant, global head of private wealth solutions at Vista Equity Partners, said firms treating AI as a way to grow advisory capacity rather than only to cut costs are seeing better outcomes: “Firms getting this right aren’t treating AI as a cost-cutting tool. They’re treating it as a growth engine.”

Cheses predicted AI could ease capacity pressure as senior advisors retire and younger advisors take on more households, which may help smooth transitions of books of business.