Advice firms are embracing the AI revolution

Undoubtedly one of the biggest stories over the last couple of years or so has been how AI is revolutionising the way advice firms operate. We all know that adoption is widespread, but new IFA DNA research from Fidelity Adviser Solutions¹ has highlighted the sheer pace of change.

In 2025, one in four firms were using AI for meeting transcription and note generation. Today, one year on, this figure has almost doubled (48%). Personalisation of reports (42%) has almost tripled, while using AI to support suitability assessments and reporting has seen the biggest percentage rise (40% up from 11%). AI tools, which last year were primarily being used for admin efficiency and document generation, are now typically being utilised across a far wider range of tasks.

What’s more, advice practitioners are becoming much more convinced of the benefits of AI tools. In fact, 71% believe the technology will help them spend more time on client-facing work over the next three years – this compares to 40% one year ago. Most respondents also agreed that AI will increase the importance of human judgement and emotional intelligence (69%) as well as face-to-face interaction with clients (66%). In fact, over half of advisers (58%) believe the technology will enable them to look after more clients.

Of course, firms do have some reservations about the technology. Lack of trust in AI-generated output (31%) was cited as the biggest barrier to more effective use of the technology within firms. Compliance and regulatory concerns (27%) and data security (24%) were also frequently mentioned by research participants. There are also some worries about losing the human element of advice (24%) although, as highlighted above, most practitioners see AI increasing the importance of the client-facing aspects of the role.

Our study confirms that AI is having a profound impact on the advice industry. The technology is now widely used within firms for an increasing range of tasks. This time last year, AI tools were primarily being used for admin efficiency and document generation. Now, the technology is being used in areas such as compliance and case checking, client interaction and fraud detection. One thing appears certain – adoption will be higher still this time next year and the technology will be used across an even greater array of tasks.

There are lots of other great insights on the use of AI within advice business within our IFA DNA special report, including how the adoption process works in practice along with illustrative case studies. This year’s main IFA DNA report is also available, which looks at how the role of the modern adviser continues to evolve through the steady accumulation of new responsibilities.

View the IFA DNA suite of reports

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¹ Fidelity Adviser Solutions commissioned NextWealth to produce this study based on a representative sample of financial advisers from research conducted in May and June 2026: a digital survey of 200 UK financial advisers; in-depth qualitative interviews with 10 financial advisers; in-depth interviews with seven advice firms specifically on AI adoption within their businesses. The participants were chosen to represent a full range of age and experience from firms large and small.