Noida, India – Wealth management firms are recognising the need to fundamentally redesign their operating models to realise the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), but relatively few are prepared to make the shift, according to a new synthetic research study by HCLTech.
The study is based on 1,066 representative AI personas modelled on senior wealth management industry decision-makers across 17 global markets. HCLTech conducted the research in partnership with Evidenza.
The research found that 84% of wealth management firms believe their operating models require fundamental redesign to fully realise the potential of AI. At the same time, 98% of leadership teams surveyed are actively pursuing an AI agenda, while just over 7% are actively building agentic AI capabilities.
The study identifies three areas where wealth management firms may be struggling to translate AI investment into measurable business outcomes: ambition, execution and strategy.
The ambition gap refers to firms recognising the need for transformation while continuing to focus AI investment primarily on efficiency gains. The execution gap relates to technology investments not being matched by investment in proprietary client data and insights, while the strategy gap concerns firms tracking AI adoption without measuring its impact on growth, revenue and clients.
“The industry doesn’t have an investment problem. It has a choices problem. Nearly every wealth management firm is spending on AI,” said Srinivasan Seshadri, Chief Growth Officer and Global Head of Financial Services at HCLTech.
“Far fewer can say which programs they are funding, how far AI actually reaches into the operating model, or whether they’re measuring the outcomes that matter — new client value, growth and revenue models. Our research found that 84% of leaders want a fundamental redesign, yet just 12% are measuring the new revenue that the redesign should produce. That’s the blind spot the winners will close first,” Seshadri continued.
The study combines AI-generated research at scale with input from industry practitioners, researchers and subject matter experts. HCLTech said experts contributed to persona design and research development and were involved in validating the findings.
“This study represents a new model for how we generate insights, one where AI gives us scale and speed while human expertise ensures every finding is credible and trustworthy,” said Jill Kouri, Global Chief Marketing Officer at HCLTech.
“It’s a demonstration of what’s possible when AI and human expertise work together and exactly the kind of capability we intend to build more in-house,” Kouri continued.
The research also examined the assets wealth management executives consider important for creating competitive differentiation. First-party and behavioural data were ranked as more valuable differentiators than technology infrastructure, cloud platforms or AI partnerships.
Nearly 80% of respondents believe future industry leaders will be those that can orchestrate AI, human expertise and ecosystem partners.
The findings also indicate differences in reported AI readiness between regions. APAC recorded the highest level of confidence at 89%, followed by North America at 84%, while Europe recorded 38.3%.
HCLTech said the research is intended to demonstrate a model in which AI is used to increase the scale and speed of research while human expertise is retained for judgement and validation.
The company said the findings point towards wealth management firms combining AI with proprietary client knowledge, human expertise and ecosystem partnerships as they seek to develop new operating models.
