While developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have dominated financial headlines and led to soaring share prices for Magnificent Seven tech firms, including Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia, the current adoption of AI tools by advisors presents a more mixed picture. ISS MI surveyed 466 financial advisors in June 2025 as part of its Advisor Pulse series. This survey found that advisors are almost evenly divided on incorporating AI into their general workflows.
Advisors, however, are a lot less split when it comes to the future of AI in their practices. In fact, 87% anticipate using AI tools in the future.
As seen in the chart above, registered investment advisers (RIAs) were the most likely of any intermediary channel to report using AI tools. RIAs are also the most likely channel to have practices focusing on a single advisor. Perhaps unsurprisingly, AI adoption was highest in the channel where firm policies on AI were least established. In fact, 78% of RIAs said their firm did not have written policies on the use of AI, compared to just 35% of regional, independent, and bank advisors. Balancing innovation and risk mitigation is never an easy challenge.
Even with advisors closely divided in their usage, this adoption has come together in a short time and appears to be outpacing other industries. A Gallup survey of other white-collar professionals, for example, found AI usage doubling over the past two years, with 27% of white-collar workers employing AI a few times a week or more.
The increased importance of AI to earnings at Magnificent Seven firms has followed significant advancements in the capabilities of large language models (LLMs) and generative AI. While advisors are using AI because of the newly enhanced capabilities, their most common use cases focus more on reducing administrative burdens and less on functions that are core to many advisors’ value propositions like portfolio construction.
To learn more about where AI is being used and advisors’ top concerns, read the full report, now available to subscribers on ISS MI’s MarketSage research portal. For more information about this report, or any of ISS MI’s research offerings, please contact us.
By Alan Hess, Vice President, U.S. Fund Research, ISS Market Intelligence
