Adviser AI usage moving rapidly from experimentation into everyday advice workflows

New research from Fidelity Adviser Solutions shows a sharp acceleration in the proportion of firms using or implementing AI, with adoption extending beyond administrative tasks into core elements of the advice process.

Meeting transcription and note generation remains the most established use case, with 48% of advisers saying their firm is using or implementing AI for this purpose, compared with 25% in 2025. Adoption for report personalisation has risen from 15% to 42% in a year, while supporting suitability assessments and reporting has increased from 11% to 40%.

The research also points to a divide in adoption by firm size. Advisers at firms with six or more client-facing advisers are more than twice as likely to be using or implementing AI for meeting transcription and note generation as those at firms with five or fewer advisers (72% vs 31%).

A similar gap can be seen in report personalisation (63% vs 27%) and suitability assessment and reporting (62% vs 24%).

Despite the rapid growth in adoption, advisers do not expect technology to diminish the importance of the human relationship.

More than seven in ten (71%) agree AI will help them spend more time on client-facing work and less time on repetitive tasks over the next three years. At the same time, 69% believe it will increase the importance of human judgement and emotional intelligence, while 66% expect the importance of face-to-face interaction with clients to increase.

Looking ahead, 72% of advisers anticipate AI will have a positive impact on their role, up from 64% in 2025, while the proportion expecting a negative impact has fallen from 12% to 9%.

AI becomes a core adviser skill

Nearly a third (31%) of advisers say effective use of AI tools will be among the most important skills over the next three years, close to technical expertise at 35%. Interpersonal and communication skills still rank highest at 51%, reinforcing the continued importance of human interaction.

A lack of trust in AI-generated outputs is the most commonly cited barrier to greater use, identified by 31% of advisers. This rises to 36% among firms with five or fewer client-facing advisers, compared with 22% at firms with six or more. Compliance or regulatory concerns follow at 27%, with data security and privacy concerns and fears about losing the human element both cited by 24%.

Navigating AI development and implementation has also risen up advisers’ list of business challenges, with 25% now citing it as a top challenge, up from 15% last year and moving from tenth to fifth in the rankings.

Paul Richards, head of adviser distribution at Fidelity Adviser Solutions, said: “AI has already moved into the day-to-day advice process. In the space of a year, we have seen a significant increase in the number of advisers whose firms are using or implementing AI not only for meeting notes, but for report personalisation, suitability, and a much wider range of workflows.

“The opportunity is not to replace the adviser, but to create more capacity for the parts of the job where human judgement, conversation and relationships matter most. Advisers increasingly see AI as a way to spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time with clients.

“The growth in adoption does not mean the challenges have disappeared. Trust, regulation, and data security all need to be addressed properly.

“For advice firms, the next stage will be about turning growing enthusiasm for AI into effective implementation. As the technology becomes a more established part of advisers’ working lives, firms will need to think carefully about where it can add genuine value while maintaining the trust and human connection at the heart of financial advice.”