Advice firms lacking AI integration: Iress

Artificial intelligence (AI) is delivering productivity gains across financial advice, but only 7% of practices have embedded the technology across most of their workflows, research from Iress has found.

Research by Iress and Signal Advisory, drawing on more than 800 advice professionals across Australia and New Zealand, found 72% of respondents were piloting AI or using it in production, However, most applications remain concentrated in administrative tasks rather than more complex advice processes.

Meeting and file notes were the most common use case, adopted by 81%, compared with just 8% for statements of advice (SOA) generation. Iress chief executive of wealth APAC Sam Wall said deeper integration could help firms serve more clients and improve the advice experience.

"AI is already delivering real productivity gains in advice. The opportunity now is to take those gains further into the workflow and turn them into capacity," Wall said.

Advice-document production remains a significant burden, with 45% identifying it as one of the most demanding parts of the process. Yet translating time savings into lower operating costs remains a challenge. However, 47% of AI user reported saving at least a quarter of the time spent on AI-assisted tasks, only 20% reported a material reduction in the cost of serving clients.

Signal Advisory founder Anthony Caneva said firms needed to assess how AI affected entire workflows, rather than individual tasks.

"AI won't be the answer to every process challenge. Traditional rules-based automation remains well suited to deterministic, repeatable tasks, while AI is best suited to work involving natural language, interpretation and synthesis. The focus should be on applying the right technology to the right task," Caneva said.

"For advice businesses, that means looking beyond the AI task itself and at what happens around it. 30% of AI-engaged respondents say checking outputs consumes much of the time AI saves. Hand-offs, rework and verification can absorb those gains before they translate into capacity or growth."

Only 28% of respondents had measured the time or cost impact of their existing AI tools, despite 58% saying quantified hours saved per adviser would most justify further investment.

Integration and trust also remain obstacles. Half of respondents cited poor integration as a barrier to adoption, while 64% said regulators had not provided sufficient clarity on AI use in advice.

The research found 81% of practices believed they could adsorb a 30% increase in adviser capacity, suggesting productivity improvements could support growth if firms can convert efficiency gains into additional client-facing time.