ThoughtLab, a global research firm, has launched a comprehensive study in collaboration with leading firms in the wealth and asset management industry to explore how advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and other transformative technologies will reshape the investment sector.
The research initiative, titled “The AI-Powered Investment Firm: How Wealth and Asset Management Providers Will Transform Their Businesses Through AI,” aims to deliver an actionable roadmap for success in the evolving age of AI. The study will provide financial services executives with an evidence-based guide for driving business transformation and performance through AI and related technologies, including end-to-end platforms.
Key areas of focus include how firms can utilize AI-enabled digital solutions across their value chains to create personalized customer experiences, enhance employee and advisor productivity, mitigate risks and fraud, generate cost efficiencies, address the advice gap, and ultimately foster new levels of profitability and growth. As part of this initiative, the research team will develop the first industry-specific AI-maturity model for wealth and asset management firms, designed to benchmark and optimize AI performance.
Lou Celi, ThoughtLab’s CEO and program director, stated, “Our pioneering research will provide wealth and asset management executives with the decision support they need to propel true strategic change through AI and other groundbreaking technologies.” He added, “AI will give industry executives the tools to navigate profound shifts already transforming the investment landscape, including an $80 trillion-plus wealth transfer to a new digital generation with high demands for personalization, product democratization, new business and service models, and reduced fees.”
This extensive research program is being spearheaded by ThoughtLab, alongside FNZ, a global wealth management platform; Grant Thornton, a professional services provider; ServiceNow, an AI platform for business transformation; Amazon Web Services (AWS), a provider of cloud computing services and AI technologies; Publicis Sapient, a digital business transformation company; London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), a global supplier of financial markets data and infrastructure; and Wireside Communications, an independent public relations agency. The program will involve a coalition of leading wealth and asset management firms, research institutions, and AI experts.
Components of the program include a global benchmarking survey of 500 financial institutions across 16 markets, insights from an advisory board of executives and industry experts, and analysis of advanced AI technologies such as generative, agentic, and multimodal AI in conjunction with adjacent technologies like modern IT platforms, blockchain, and data management systems. The study will also feature in-depth interviews with executives identified as leaders in AI transformation and with AI specialists, coupled with rigorous benchmarking and maturity modeling of AI-enabled strategies, practices, investments, and performance results.
The study aims to answer critical questions such as how AI will transform investment firms over the next three years, how AI-powered firms will operate differently, the impact on the future of work, the most effective AI use cases across front, middle, and back office, and the performance returns from these initiatives. It will also explore how AI and related technologies can support wealth advisory firms and asset management providers as hyper-personalized services become standard, the evolution of the global AI regulatory landscape, and the necessary steps for investment firms to prepare for the next AI era and achieve AI leadership.
ThoughtLab, an innovative thought leadership firm, specializes in assessing the impact of technology on industries, cities, and markets, providing fresh ideas and rigorous analysis to aid business and government leaders in managing transformative change. The study group will provide regular updates on the program to the global wealth and asset management community over the next three months. Full study findings, actionable insights, and related decision-support tools are scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2025.
