Ewen Harris says AI should buy time for client conversation, not replace it

Thirty years ago, Ewen Harris was a U.K. advisor, and a four-page client report took 20 minutes to come off the printer. "You would have to make small talk with the client for 20 minutes while waiting for a four-page report to come off," he said. "If you weren't any good at that, the client would go, 'no thanks, I'm not signing,' because it was uncomfortable."

Harris, who recently sold his business and now coaches advisors in the U.S., argues AI gives advisors room to develop the interpersonal skill that AI cannot compete with. Financial Planning reported his argument, along with a caution from a marketing consultant that the same tools make bland, impersonal client communication easy to produce.

Tim Riddle, founder and CEO of the financial marketing firm Discover Blind Spots, told Financial Planning there are "two groups of people out there when it comes to AI: those who use it well and those who use it." Good automation, he said, won't "show up and you can see it three days before it gets there … screaming 'this is automated.'"

The failure mode shows up in client-facing content. An advisor who writes up something about Social Security strictly using AI is "going to get more of a bland type thing," Riddle told Financial Planning. Letting AI "and bots begin to go in and do the work," he said, "could quickly make it impersonalized instead of feeling like it was personalized."

Janus Henderson Investors reported earlier this year that 87% of investors were not bothered by their advisor using AI to create educational content or handle administrative tasks. Automation to respond to email or text would upset 40% of respondents, and 33% said an advisor using AI to provide investment recommendations would be upsetting.

Undisclosed AI use was the biggest red flag in those findings, Financial Planning wrote: 79% said it would be a problem for them. The responses suggest investors tolerate AI for behind-the-scenes tasks like educational content and administration, but are wary of AI in direct client interactions like email replies or investment recommendations.