90% Want to Use AI to Expand Capabilities
NEEDHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#AI–Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the advisory profession by redefining where financial advisors deliver the most value, according to new research from wealthtech provider Advisor360°™. Today’s advisors overwhelmingly view AI as a catalyst for growth and evolution as they focus on personalized client experience—in fact, 90% believe those who lean into “softer” skills and services will succeed over the next decade.
Advisor360°’s 2026 Connected Wealth Report reveals that 90% of financial advisors do not believe AI will make their role obsolete within the next 10 years. Sixty-nine percent say advisors will remain essential—though their responsibilities will evolve—while 21% expect advisor headcounts to shrink due to AI. Just 8% believe AI will make the profession obsolete.
Advisors already see AI as a growth engine: 90% are interested in using AI tools to expand their service offerings, with top use cases being tax planning (48%), model creation (47%), and retirement income planning (45%).
An overwhelming 92% of advisors say clients increasingly expect a more holistic, multi-faceted financial planning experience—one that extends beyond investments.
As AI enables advisors to expand their capabilities and deliver more holistic guidance, they expect a shift in what will attract and retain clients. Emotional intelligence and empathy (53%), followed closely by communication and client coaching (51%), ranked highest among the qualities advisors expect will matter most in the future.
In contrast, technical skills such as AI tool management and data interpretation ranked lower. Advisors predict the future of the business will center on managing client relationships and life transitions, delivering highly personalized guidance, and providing holistic wealth planning.
“Advisors believe AI has the potential to help them do more for clients—not less,” said Jason Quinn, Chief Operating Officer at Advisor360°. “Historically, expanding services meant adding headcount or stretching resources thin. With AI-enabled intelligence embedded into the advisor workday, they can deliver more sophisticated guidance without sacrificing quality.”
AI Resets Expectations Around Digital Transformation
Rising expectations about what technology should be able to do are revealing gaps in many firms’ current infrastructure. Advisors want platforms that anticipate their needs, streamline compliance, and enhance client interactions. In fact, for the first time in four years of Connected Wealth Report surveys, overall satisfaction with firm technology has declined.
Nearly two-thirds of advisors (66%) say their firm’s technology needs improvement, up from 50% last year. Those describing their technology as “state of the art” dropped from 35% to 28%. The primary complaints about their current setups are a lack of AI-enabled capabilities (39%) and limited integration among tools (37%).
“The industry hasn’t necessarily fallen behind—AI has moved the goalposts,” Quinn said. “Advisors want connected platforms that think, adapt, and evolve as their business grows. Digital transformation is no longer about digitization—it’s about elevating the advisor experience.”
**All trademarks and registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
About the Survey
As part of its award-winning Connected Wealth Report research series, Advisor360° surveyed 300 financial advisors at registered investment advisors (RIAs), broker-dealers, and banks across the U.S. about their views on how technology shapes their work. Survey participants self-identified as being responsible for managing, on average, $548 million in client assets—either individually or as part of a team—and hailed from firms with a median AUM of $65 billion. The email-based survey was fielded by FUSE Research Network in the fall of 2025 on behalf of Advisor360°. Advisor360° and FUSE are separate and unaffiliated organizations.
About Advisor360°
Advisor360° delivers the first AI-native platform built to power advisor growth across firms of every size, model, and stage. Architected to drive measurable business value across the full advisor lifecycle, Advisor360° is the only platform designed to unify the advisor experience from data to workflow. Powered by Wealth OS—our modern data and workflow engine—the platform removes daily friction and transforms fragmented data into actionable intelligence. From independent advisors to enterprise broker-dealers and RIAs, Advisor360° enables a consistent, household-level client experience that scales with the business. Today, two million households representing $1 trillion in assets benefit from the connected Advisor360° platform. To learn more, visit www.advisor360.com.
Contacts
Media Contact:
Jacqueline Murphy
[email protected]
(781) 366-4222
