For finance professionals, balancing the increasing demand for personalized guidance with the efficiency of digital tools and automation presents an interesting challenge. Clients want human insight, particularly in moments of uncertainty—but they also expect seamless, technology-driven experiences.
How can finance experts blend both worlds to deliver the best of personalization and automation? To help, 17 Forbes Finance Council members share the strategies that help them deliver consistent, tech-enabled experiences without sacrificing the human touch.
1. Balance Tech And Advice Based On Unique Needs
As an entrepreneur or executive, your financial goals require precision and flexibility. While robo-advisors automate, only a seasoned advisor can craft personalized tax strategies and guide you toward the best tax-advantaged wealth vehicles. The future lies in blending advanced tech with expert advice tailored to your unique needs. – Terry Lamb, TLAMB INC.
2. Offer Comprehensive Services That Require Human Oversight
Focus on designing and implementing the macro strategy while technology executes the microtasks. Financial professionals need to go beyond what’s commoditized by offering comprehensive services. For example, a complete tax and estate strategy requires human oversight, while a machine can handle tax-loss harvesting. Digital tools increase automation, but they still lack a holistic value add. – Martin Jarzebowski, CFA, Federated Hermes
3. Allow Tech To Handle The ‘How’ While You Provide The ‘Why’
Financial professionals should embrace a hybrid model—leveraging digital tools for efficiency while offering human insight for personalization. Clients seek more than algorithms; they want trust, clarity and tailored guidance. Tech handles the “how,” but advisors provide the “why” that builds lasting value. – Gianluca Sidoti, The Wealth Company International FZCO
4. Recognize The Importance Of Real-Life Experiences
Balancing digital tools with personal advice comes down to remembering what robots can’t do—drawing from real-life experience. Robo-advisors are great for automation, but financial planning isn’t just about numbers; it’s about trust, life stories and understanding unique goals. People want to feel heard and understood, and that’s something only a human advisor with experience can truly provide. – Michael Foguth, Foguth Financial Group
5. Integrate Technology, Don’t Compete With It
The key is integration, not competition. Tech boosts efficiency, but it can’t replace human insight. I use digital tools to automate tasks so I can focus on what matters most—understanding clients deeply. Blending tech with personal guidance creates a powerful, balanced approach that delivers both precision and meaningful connection. – Bob Chitrathorn, Wealth Planning By Bob Chitrathorn of Simplified Wealth Management
Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?
6. Understand What Complexities Require Human Judgment
Incorporating robo-advisors can dilute the value proposition and compromise the deeply personalized approach wealthy clients expect. They often face complex financial needs that require human judgment, nuanced understanding and strategic foresight. Algorithms simply can’t replicate the level of customization, discretion or relationship-driven advice needed to navigate these intricacies. – Anatoly Iofe, IceBridge Financial Group, LLC
7. Allocate Human Resources Where They’re Most Needed
Financial professionals can balance the demand for personalized advice with digital scale by embedding real-time data, automated decision-making, AI customer support and contextual intelligence into the customer journey. This enables firms to allocate human resources where they drive the most value, focusing expert attention on complex cases while automating routine interactions efficiently. – Tomer Guriel, ezbob Ltd.
8. Blend Technology With Emotional Intelligence
To meet the rising demand for personalized advice, financial professionals must harness digital tools for efficiency while focusing on nuanced, human-centric insights. True differentiation lies in blending technology with emotional intelligence—offering what robo-advisors cannot: trust, judgment and foresight. – Swati Deepak Kumar (Nema), Citigroup
9. Use Tools That Personalize Advice
Financial professionals can strike the balance by using digital tools that personalize advice without diluting accountability, layering identity-aware access controls to ensure clients see tailored insights based on their unique profiles, goals and permissions. This hybrid approach keeps the human element front and center while scaling trust and compliance through technology. – Leslie Milne, Gathid
10. Leverage AI To Free Up Time For Deeper Relationships
Financial professionals can balance personalized advice with digital tools by using AI to handle data analysis and routine tasks, freeing up time for deeper client relationships. By blending robo-advisors for efficiency with human insight for empathy and customization, they can deliver scalable yet tailored financial guidance that meets modern client expectations. – Crystal Gilmore, The Spearhead Group Inc.
11. Automate The Busywork
Automate the simpler busywork using digital tools like business payments, cash flow forecasting and expense tracking. With AI tools, you can focus on what algorithms can’t: understanding a client’s unique story. Be the one who catches the “why” behind the numbers and the personal goals behind the spreadsheets. Real client loyalty is built from being more than just a financial technician. – Nick Chandi, Forwardly
12. Hold Legacy-Focused Check-Ins With Clients
Leverage digital tools for 80% of routine tasks, freeing 20% of your time to deliver seasoned counsel shaped by decades, not data alone. Hold monthly legacy-focused check-ins blending life-stage analytics with empathy, aligning strategies to the client’s next 30 years, not just the next quarter. Automation scales reach; wisdom deepens trust, securing prosperity into life’s later chapters. – Terry Chen, Modulate
13. Have Real Conversations To Identify Blind Spots And Risks
Despite the rise of robo-advisors, clients still seek trusted professionals to confirm if they’re truly on track toward financial independence. I use tools like ChatGPT to save time and personalize advice, but clients value real conversations that reveal blind spots, risks and missed opportunities. Digital tools help, but human insight builds trust and lasting plans. – Giri Lankipalle, Giri Lankipalle Financial Services
14. Use AI To Crunch Numbers And Have A Real Person Explain Them
The real evolution isn’t man versus machine. It’s man with machine. AI can crunch the numbers, but people need a real person to explain what it all means and calm fears. Tomorrow is a mix of smart tech for speed and trusted pros for strategy. Clients don’t just want software; they want someone who gets them, guides them and picks up the phone when it matters most. Clients crave human interaction. – Karla Dennis, KDA Inc.
15. Convert Data Into Client Solutions
By serving as financial interpreters and starting with robo-advisor data and converting it into solutions that fit their clients’ life goals, financial professionals can strike a balance between automated tools and individualized advice. As a result, technology becomes a tool for more profound and significant instruction. – Neil Anders, Trusted Rate, Inc.
16. Provide Deep Insight Into More Complex Portfolios
AI financial advisors are disrupting the industry by making personalized advice more affordable and accessible to all. This is especially true for simple portfolios and standard allocation strategies. However, more complex portfolios, multijurisdiction tax and estate planning of HNWI still require deep human expertise. Specializing in these areas will help financial advisors stay relevant. – Andrew Izyumov, 8FIGURES AI Investment Advisor
17. Blend Technology With Bespoke Risk Planning
AI is meant to enhance, not replace, professional advice tailored to clients’ unique situations. While digital tools can streamline planning, early asset protection strategies like offshore trusts are essential for long-term stability against lawsuits and disputes. The key is blending technology with personalized risk planning. – Blake Harris, Blake Harris Law
The information provided here is not investment, tax, or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation.
