How advisor teams can turn AI into a competitive advantage

One of the greatest privileges of my role is the opportunity to spend time with wealth advisory teams across the country. Every team is different in terms of how they serve their clients, their business models, and how they define success. Yet every trip reminds me that exceptional teams often arrive at similar conclusions, even when they have taken completely different paths to get there.

That was certainly true during my recent visit to Washington, D.C., where I spent several days working with highly successful advisory teams implementing artificial intelligence (AI) into their practices through our Amplifying Human Intelligence program.

The conversations were thoughtful, practical, and refreshingly honest. No one was asking whether AI mattered anymore because that question had already been answered. Instead, the discussion had evolved into something much more interesting.

Throughout the week, advisors repeatedly asked, “Bryan, what are the best teams doing with AI that we’re not?”

I found myself thinking about that question on the flight home because it represents the speed with which our profession has embraced AI. A year ago, much of the discussion centered on prompts, meeting summaries, and crafting emails. Those capabilities remain valuable, but they no longer create meaningful differentiation.

The advisory teams creating the greatest momentum are approaching AI much more strategically. They are using it to improve the quality of their thinking, strengthen collaboration across the team, and challenge assumptions before important decisions ever reach a client.

As I reflected on the conversations throughout the week, three observations surfaced.

Approaching AI as a thought partner

Preparation has always been one of the greatest competitive advantages in our profession, yet I was struck by how many advisory teams have expanded what preparation now looks like.

Rather than limiting AI to administrative work after a meeting, successful teams have intentionally moved it to the start of their process, where it can influence the quality of the conversation itself.

For example, before important client reviews, they ask AI to identify planning opportunities they may have overlooked. Before meeting with a business owner, they explore industry trends, leadership challenges, and succession issues that could shape the discussion. Before presenting recommendations, they ask AI what questions the client is likely thinking about but may never ask aloud.

What impressed me wasn’t that AI consistently produced the perfect answer. It was that it consistently encouraged advisors to ask better questions.

One team described AI as another seat at the conference table during preparation because it introduced perspectives that challenged familiar patterns of thinking. The recommendation still belonged to the advisor, but the thinking behind that recommendation became broader, more intentional, and ultimately more valuable to the client.

Three actions your team can take:

1. Ask AI to identify opportunities, risks, or planning considerations your team may not have discussed.

2. Have AI role play as your client and challenge your meeting agenda before the conversation begins.

3. Ask AI what questions your client is likely thinking but may never ask directly.

Leveraging AI as a collaborator

One observation that became increasingly clear as the workshops progressed is that the highest-performing teams were not searching for ways to let AI do their work. They were looking for ways to make their work better through AI.

Whether they were developing presentations, writing client communications, organizing strategic initiatives, or preparing educational content, AI became another contributor to the creative process instead of the final decision maker. Advisors then refined ideas, debated recommendations, rewrote language, and improved explanations until the finished product reflected their experience and philosophy.

That distinction matters because collaboration has always been one of the defining characteristics of exceptional teams. Long before AI existed, the best advisory practices understood that the strongest ideas emerge when people build on one another’s thinking. AI simply provides another perspective that can accelerate those conversations without replacing the judgment, empathy, and experience clients ultimately rely upon.

Three actions your team can take:

1. Use AI to develop the first draft of presentations or communications, then refine them together as a team.

2. Ask AI to explain complex planning concepts in several different ways before selecting the approach that best fits your client.

3. Brainstorm multiple strategies with AI before bringing those ideas to your leadership team for discussion.

Challenge assumptions in decision-making

Perhaps the most valuable observation had little to do with technology and everything to do with leadership.

Experience gives advisors confidence, but it can also create assumptions that deserve to be questioned. The teams making the greatest progress with AI have intentionally built that challenge into their decision making by asking AI to present alternative viewpoints before important recommendations are finalized.

Rather than seeking confirmation, they ask AI where they may be missing something, what competing priorities deserve greater attention, or how another advisor might approach the same situation differently.

One discussion during the week centered on a complex family planning strategy. Instead of reinforcing the team’s original recommendation, AI encouraged them to reconsider the order of the conversation by focusing first on preparing the next generation for the responsibilities of wealth before moving into technical estate planning. The recommendation itself remained strong, but the client conversation became significantly more productive because the team had challenged its own thinking before presenting the idea.

That willingness to invite constructive disagreement is something every advisory team can adopt, regardless of the technology they choose to use. The objective is not to prove AI right; it’s to ensure clients benefit from the very best thinking the team can provide.

Three actions your team can take:

1. Ask AI to identify the strongest argument against your recommendation before presenting it.

2. Challenge AI to uncover assumptions your team may be making about the client’s goals or priorities.

3. Request alternative planning strategies and discuss the strengths and tradeoffs of each before making a final recommendation.

As I left Washington, I realized the most valuable conversations I had throughout the week were never really about artificial intelligence; they were about how exceptional advisory teams continue to learn, adapt, and challenge themselves even after years of success. AI has simply become another tool that encourages those habits, helping advisors prepare more thoughtfully, collaborate more effectively, and approach important client decisions with greater curiosity.

Technology will continue to evolve, and next year’s capabilities will undoubtedly look different from today’s. What I believe will remain constant is that the firms creating the greatest impact will never be defined by the tools they own. Rather, they will be defined by how they think, how they work together, and how willing they are to challenge their own assumptions in pursuit of better outcomes for the families they serve.

If there was one lesson I brought home from my trip, it is that successful advisory teams are using AI to enhance human intelligence, not replace it.

Explore our Amplifying Human Intelligence program for more resources and content on how to leverage AI to create efficiency and elevate your team’s performance. 

Important information about the use of AI: AI-generated outputs may be inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, biased, or fabricated and should not be relied upon without independent review. AI does not replace an advisor’s professional judgment or applicable legal, tax, investment, compliance, or supervisory responsibilities. Use only AI tools approved by your firm. Do not enter confidential, proprietary, personal, or client-identifying information into an AI system unless your firm has expressly authorized the system and the use complies with applicable privacy, cybersecurity, information-security, contractual, recordkeeping, and supervisory requirements.