Key Takeaways
- 85% of advisors surveyed said their organizations had adopted AI-integrated solutions to some degree, according to AssetMark’s 2026 Advisor Insights Report.
- More than half of AI adopters reported saving at least four hours each week, representing more than 200 hours over a year. (AssetMark, 2026)
- AI can create capacity and context, while advisors provide judgment, accountability and an understanding of the client. (AssetMark, 2026)
Financial advisors are already putting artificial intelligence (AI) to work across their practices. The technology is becoming most useful when it supports work advisors already do, from summarizing information, assisting with analysis, automating repeatable tasks and helping prepare for client conversations. When used efficiently, AI can give advisors more capacity and better context while keeping judgment, accountability and the client relationship firmly with the advisor.
That shift is already underway. In AssetMark’s 2026 Advisor Insights report, 85% of advisors surveyed said their organizations had adopted AI-integrated solutions to some degree. As adoption broadens, the practical question becomes where AI can best strengthen the practice and how it can be integrated responsibly into existing workflows.
How Are Financial Advisors Using AI?
AssetMark’s research found that advisors are applying AI across a number of areas including research, operations, communication and marketing. Commonly cited use cases include summarizing meeting notes, generating performance reports and dashboards, producing initial drafts of written content, developing research materials, supporting risk analysis, and automating scheduling and reporting workflows. These applications share one characteristic: they connect AI to a task that advisors already perform.
Taken together, these use cases shift the question from what AI can do to what it enables advisors to do better.
Where Can AI Create the Most Value?
Efficiency is one of the major benefits of integrating AI into your workflows, but the even greater value comes from how advisors use the capacity AI creates.
Among AI adopters in AssetMark’s research, more than half reported saving at least four hours each week, representing more than 200 hours over a year. Yet advisors were more likely to identify improved work quality than efficiency as a benefit of AI.
Saving time on research or meeting preparation can create more room to understand a client’s priorities, address a complex planning need or communicate more consistently. As Alex Pape, AssetMark’s EVP, Chief Technology & Product Officer, explains, “Twenty minutes saved is an efficiency metric. What an advisor does with those twenty minutes shapes the client outcome.”
How Can AI Improve the Client Experience?
AI can support a better client experience by helping advisors prepare faster, respond with more context and personalize conversations to individual client needs.
Historically, information relevant to a client meeting has been dispersed across holdings, performance data, market developments, tax activity and research. AI can now help organize those inputs so the advisor can focus on what matters to the client and how best to explain it.
AssetMark’s Talk Tracks℠ follows this model. Embedded in the AssetMark Advisor Portal, it combines portfolio performance, market commentary, sector analysis, notable securities and tax optimization activity for client accounts to generate portfolio-specific talking points. Each talking point is cited and validated, giving the advisor a more focused starting point for the conversation. The advisor then determines what is relevant to the client’s goals, concerns and circumstances.
What Should Advisors Consider Before Leveraging AI?
Responsible AI adoption starts with understanding what a tool does, what information it uses and how its output will be reviewed.
Advisors should use firm-approved tools, protect confidential information and verify important facts, calculations and sources. Human review should always remain part of any client-facing use or decision. Firms should also understand applicable regulatory requirements. FINRA notes that existing obligations continue to apply when firms use generative AI and specifically identifies supervision, communications and recordkeeping among the relevant considerations.
These considerations are central to adoption. Among advisors in AssetMark’s study who had not adopted AI, client confidentiality and data privacy were the leading barriers, followed by the time required to investigate, learn or implement the technology.
The strongest implementation model combines useful tools with clear governance, practical education and well-defined use cases.
Where Should Human Judgment Remain Central?
AI can collect and synthesize information. Advisors remain responsible for interpreting AI, making decisions and leading consequential client conversations.
AssetMark’s research found that half of advisors expressed reservations about entrusting AI with client-facing work. Similar concerns applied to portfolio decisions and compliance, reinforcing the need for professional review and accountability.
An AI system can generate an explanation, but the advisor must determine whether it is accurate, appropriate and useful. Advisors also bring context outside the dataset, including a client’s concerns, family priorities and reasons a technically sound decision may be unsuitable for that person.
The strongest model combines broader AI assistance with continued human ownership. AI can create capacity and context. Advisors provide judgment, accountability and an understanding of the client.
To learn more about how advisors are putting AI to work, explore the 2026 AssetMark Advisor Insights Report: Artificial Intelligence for more research and deeper insights on adoption, use cases, benefits and barriers.
