From Buzzwords to Business Impact: Insights From FSI OneVoice 2026

At FSI OneVoice this year, the most interesting conversations weren’t about any single product or announcement—they were about how fundamentally the industry’s mindset is changing. Across sessions and side conversations in San Diego, a consistent shift emerged in how firms are thinking about growth, intelligence, and execution in an increasingly complex environment.

What stood out was not a breakthrough moment, but a growing alignment around a few core challenges and opportunities that will shape the next phase of advice.

AI has moved from curiosity to consequence

The industry has officially moved past “buzzword bingo.” Executives across business, technology, compliance, and operations now broadly agree that artificial intelligence will materially impact how advisory firms operate—and how advisors deliver value. That view is reinforced by our own research: 74% of advisors view AI as a net positive, particularly for automating everyday work.

There was also strong consensus on what AI won’t do: replace advisors. Instead, it will replace advisors who fail to adopt it. The most cited opportunity was personalization at scale—using AI to help advisors deliver better, more tailored advice while serving more households effectively. Compliance leaders focused on AI’s role in risk reduction through improved monitoring of large language models, while CFOs and operations executives pointed to AI as a lever for lowering home-office costs and expanding capacity without sacrificing oversight.

Productivity is the new growth strategy

Organic growth was top of mind throughout the conference, reflected in the popularity of productivity-focused sessions. With market conditions and acquisition strategies more uncertain, firms are increasingly focused on doing more with what they already have—advisors, data, and existing client relationships.

Productivity today is no longer just about efficiency. It’s about enabling advisors to spend more time with clients and less time navigating fragmented systems and manual workflows. Firms are actively looking for ways to supercharge productivity across the entire advisor lifecycle, from onboarding and planning to ongoing service and compliance.

Data and integration remain core problems for the industry

Despite progress, bad data and shallow integrations continue to hold financial firms back. These challenges surfaced repeatedly as constraints on both AI adoption and scalable growth. Without clean, connected, household-level data, even the most advanced AI capabilities struggle to deliver meaningful business value or operate safely in a regulated environment.

This is the underlying reality behind many AI conversations today: before intelligence can drive outcomes, data foundations must be addressed. Firms that ignore this reality risk stalling both innovation and growth.

Client-centricity is the ultimate differentiator

As my industry colleagues and I discussed extensively during our FSI panel, the end investor ultimately pays everyone in the value chain. Firms that consistently focus on improving client outcomes, not just internal metrics, are better positioned to build trust, loyalty, and long-term growth.

Client-centric strategies are no longer just good philosophy. They’re becoming a competitive necessity.

Looking ahead: from insight to autonomous execution

The executive takeaway from OneVoice 2026 is that we’re leaving the information age and entering an autonomous one. We are moving from computers helping humans toward humans supervising intelligent systems.

Agentic workflows will begin by suggesting actions, then preparing and routing work, and eventually—once trust is established—executing tasks autonomously with advisor oversight. This shift has the potential to fundamentally change how advisors spend their time, freeing them to focus on relationships, judgment, and growth.

For firms evaluating what comes next, the conversations at OneVoice reinforced a clear reality: AI delivers its greatest impact when it is embedded directly into data, workflows, and execution—not layered on top. The firms that invest in this foundation now will be best positioned to scale intelligence responsibly and sustainably.

Missed us at FSI OneVoice 2026?
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Darren Tedesco is President at Advisor360°