Why the future of financial planning won't be decided by firms adopting AI—but by citizens doing the same. Every week there seems to be another discussion about artificial intelligence in financial services. Should advisers build their own AI? Should firms rely on specialist providers? Will AI replace paraplanners? Are the productivity gains worth the investment? … Continue reading Opinion: The AI Debate Is Missing the Most Important Participant
Category: Human Agency & AI
How AI and technology alter the balance of capability, control and power between people and institutions.
AI Is Reshaping Financial Planning. But Is It Reshaping the Whole Picture?
AI and the Two-Sided Transition of Financial Planning The Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB) has released an important new Practice Guidance Note on the use of artificial intelligence in financial planning. It is a timely and well-considered document that addresses one of the profession's most significant emerging challenges. Its central message is clear. Artificial intelligence … Continue reading AI Is Reshaping Financial Planning. But Is It Reshaping the Whole Picture?
AI Literacy Before AI Leadership: Why Britain Needs an AI-Confident Population
AI Literacy Before AI Leadership: Why Britain Needs an AI-Confident Population By Graham Francis, Academy of Life Planning Member The conversation around Artificial Intelligence is accelerating. Governments are investing billions. Technology companies are competing to build ever more capable systems. Businesses are exploring how AI can improve productivity, reduce costs, and create new opportunities. Yet … Continue reading AI Literacy Before AI Leadership: Why Britain Needs an AI-Confident Population
If AI Agents Are Going to Make Financial Decisions, Who Should They Work For?
This week, FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi made it clear that artificial intelligence is moving beyond assistance and into action. The next phase, he argued, is not simply AI helping people analyse information. It is the emergence of agentic systems that can coordinate, transact and execute decisions on behalf of others. The FCA has signalled … Continue reading If AI Agents Are Going to Make Financial Decisions, Who Should They Work For?
The Trusted Agency-Restoration Layer: Helping People Use AI Without Being Used by AI
Financial services is entering a new phase. For decades, the industry has been organised around products, advice, distribution, regulation, platforms, documentation, and disclosure. The consumer has usually sat at the end of that chain: informed, nudged, sold to, advised, protected, categorised, risk-rated, and asked to consent. But something deeper is now changing. Artificial intelligence is … Continue reading The Trusted Agency-Restoration Layer: Helping People Use AI Without Being Used by AI
Consumer-Side AI: The Public Interest Use Case Financial Services Must Not Ignore
There is a missing half in the financial services AI conversation. At the moment, much of the debate is about how firms use artificial intelligence. How firms govern it. How firms test it. How firms manage risk. How firms explain AI-assisted decisions. How firms improve efficiency, productivity, compliance, and customer service. All of that matters. … Continue reading Consumer-Side AI: The Public Interest Use Case Financial Services Must Not Ignore
Choosing AI for Your Practice: Efficiency Tool or Human Agency Operating System?
A new McKinsey study on AI competitive advantage raises important questions for financial planners choosing the next generation of technology platforms. The study makes a simple but profound point: When everyone has access to the same AI models, the real competitive advantage no longer comes from the AI itself. It comes from the operating system … Continue reading Choosing AI for Your Practice: Efficiency Tool or Human Agency Operating System?
Agentic AI: Liberation Tool or the Next Layer of Invisible Intermediation?
Artificial intelligence is about to become your new financial intermediary. Not in a branch.Not in a suit.Not even on a Zoom call. But embedded quietly inside the apps, platforms, and “smart assistants” that will soon recommend what you save, what you invest, what you insure, what you borrow — and eventually what you do with … Continue reading Agentic AI: Liberation Tool or the Next Layer of Invisible Intermediation?
