Visionary Advisors in the Age of AI

In a recent Barron’s Advisor article, How AI Could Kill the Great Wealth Transfer, retirement coach David Conti challenges a foundational assumption in wealth planning: that capital will move cleanly and predictably from one generation to the next. Citing research from Cerulli Associates, Conti highlights both the scale of the coming wealth transfer and the growing disconnect between family expectations and advisor-led planning.

As artificial intelligence reshapes careers and compresses earning timelines, Conti argues that advisors may increasingly face disrupted plans, reversed cash flows, and families navigating uncertainty sooner than expected. In this environment, the advisor’s value shifts away from access to information and toward judgment, context, and leadership.

Alex Kirby, CEO of Total Family, refers to the advisors who embrace this shift as Visionary Advisors, professionals who lean into technology while expanding their role beyond financial decisions into the broader, more human decisions families face.

AI Raises the Bar, It Doesn’t Replace the Advisor

One of the central tensions Conti surfaces is that AI does not eliminate the need for advisors, it changes what clients expect from them. When information becomes abundant and instant, an advisor’s value can no longer rest on having every answer at hand.

That idea is echoed in Episode 11 of Total Family’s Visionary Advisor podcast, featuring industry veteran Robert Balentine. Balentine emphasizes that great advisors do not need to know everything. What matters is the ability to say “I don’t know,” and then apply the right tools, resources, and judgment to help clients move forward.

In the context Conti describes, AI becomes one of those tools. It accelerates research, scenario modeling, and preparation, allowing advisors to spend less time searching for answers and more time guiding clients through decisions that require human clarity and confidence.

AI Expands Capacity in a More Uncertain World

Conti points to career volatility as a growing planning risk, particularly for late-career clients facing compressed timelines and fewer recovery options. In that environment, preparation depends as much on trust as it does on modeling.

AI expands an advisor’s capacity to explore scenarios and surface tradeoffs, but those tools are only effective when built on honest, open relationships between advisor and client, and across the family itself. Difficult conversations about work, liquidity, or shifting expectations are inevitable. Advisors who establish that openness early create the foundation for navigating them well.

As Conti suggests, families without proactive, advisor-led dialogue often face these moments reactively. AI helps advisors prepare for what is coming, but trust determines whether those conversations happen in time.

Where AI Stops, Human Leadership Begins

As Conti emphasizes, while AI may optimize information and analysis, most financial decisions remain deeply emotional, particularly when family dynamics, identity, and legacy are involved.

That limitation is reinforced by Jennifer Musil, Global President of Custom Research at The Harris Poll. In Episode 13 of Total Family’s Visionary Advisor podcast, Musil draws on findings from America’s Great Wealth Transfer research to explain that while AI can clearly explain financial mechanics, it cannot convey meaning, history, or cultural context. Those elements live in family stories, not datasets.

In the environment Conti describes, this is where advisors have the greatest opportunity to lead, helping families interpret change, not just model it.

The Future Belongs to Visionary Advisors

David Conti’s central insight is not that technology threatens the advisor, but that it raises expectations. As AI expands access to information and analysis, advisors have a greater opportunity to differentiate through trust, judgment, and emotional leadership. Those who embrace AI as a tool while continuing to grow alongside their clients will be best positioned to guide families through increasingly complex decisions. As Alex Kirby notes, Visionary Advisors are defined not by technology alone, but by their willingness to learn, adapt, and lead alongside the families they serve.

Continue the conversation on what it means to advise in an age of rapid change.

Explore the Visionary Advisor podcast to hear conversations with industry leaders on legacy, trust, and the evolving role of the advisor. You can also watch curated clips from across episodes on our YouTube channel, highlighting the human insights that technology cannot replace.

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