Episode summary
Where AI Belongs in Advisor Communications
Summary
Craig Iskowitz argues that advisor communications should use AI unevenly, depending on the message and the firm’s culture. He says one-on-one client communication should stay human, while broad newsletters and routine client updates are better candidates for AI, especially if the output is first drafted by AI and then rewritten into the firm’s voice. The key risk is sounding generic or “AIish,” which can damage trust and brand identity.
He is more skeptical about compliance automation than many vendors are. Iskowitz says AI tools can fetch information, but they have no responsibility, so firms still need strong governance and controls rather than handing compliance over to software. He also says the advisor industry may be more exposed to AI than it was to robo-advisors, because AI is likely to meet its hype and commoditize lower-value advice.
His conclusion is that advisors should move up the value chain by becoming more holistic—covering taxes, insurance, budgeting, credit cards and other areas clients already ask AI about. The competitive response is not to resist AI, but to use it carefully and offer advice AI cannot replace.
Key takeaways
- Craig Iskowitz says one-on-one client messages should not be AI-generated, while newsletters and broad client emails can be.
- He recommends AI first drafts with human rewrites to preserve brand voice and avoid sounding “AIish.”
- He warns that AI compliance tools can fetch data but have no responsibility, so governance still matters.
- Iskowitz thinks AI may disrupt advisors more than robo-advisors did because it is likely to meet its hype.
- He argues advisors should move up-market by offering more holistic advice on taxes, insurance, budgeting and other planning topics.
Notable quotes
“one-on-one communications with with a client shouldn't be AI, that should be written”
“you want to avoid that. I think if the standard emails that everyone expects to be um AI, like a newsletter”
“having AI write the first draft, then have someone on your team rewrite it to be in your voice, your company's voice”
“It's just plugging in different words and phrases and you can tell right away this doesn't make any sense and that's not good for your brand”
“I think advisers are in more trouble with AI than they were with robo advisors”
How the episode opens
Which communications from advisors should have different levels of AI in it. Right? So that's it's um a question we're going to be talking about tomorrow on our panel which is in integrating AI into advisor communications.
And I think it's different for every firm. Some firms have more of a human touch and some maybe do not have as much. Uh so I think each firm needs to make that decision for themselves and some AI is better than others right we're seeing AI getting better incrementally as well as geometrically better over very short of time whereas six months ago we may not have used an AI for a task because it came out too AI sounding shall we say whereas now we are.
So, I think obviously um one-on-one communications with with a client shouldn't be AI, that should be written. And every I think everyone's very quickly gotten to the point where we can tell that something seems AIish. So, you want to avoid that.
I think if the standard emails that everyone expects to be um AI, like a newsletter or um emails that go out to the entire uh community of of your clients are fine for AI. And then the AI assisted should probably be things where you're you're talking about certain life events or you're you're talking about certain things that client should be watching out for. I think um having AI write the first draft, then have someone on your team rewrite it to be in your voice, your company's voice, and pick up on certain things, maybe certain parts of your clients are looking for would probably be a better way to go.
You want to automate as much as you can without losing your brand identity and your voice.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- ai advisor communications
- automation vs human oversight
- compliance tech
- brand voice risk
- long-term advisor disruption
Watch the episode
Watch “Where AI Belongs in Advisor Communications” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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