AI is taking the world by storm and at the top of everyone’s minds. To me AI is a lot like the first-time people started using a scientific calculator. When calculators emerged, they didn’t replace the need to understand math. They didn’t make teachers irrelevant. And they certainly didn’t eliminate the importance of showing your work. What calculators did was take the tedious, time‑consuming arithmetic’s off our plates so we can focus on the actual problem‑solving — the part that requires logic, context, judgment, and experience.
That’s exactly how I view AI today, I also know that this will radically change how we work with our clients.
AI can process information quickly, compare variables, and surface options in seconds. But it still can’t connect to your values, your goals, your comfort with risk, or the milestones that matter most in your life. Human connection is the differentiator – some people want it and some do not.
For those who want human connections this is where the continued human elements become even more essential across our society. It’s not disappearing – it’s becoming more important than ever, because tools have become exponentially more powerful.
The Disruption is Real – But so is the Opportunity
Across the economy, artificial intelligence is reshaping how businesses operate, how work gets done, and where growth is happening. While this kind of change can feel uncertain, it also opens the door to new efficiencies, new industries, and new ways for individuals to thrive. Every major industrial revolution has displaced certain jobs while creating entirely new ones — often roles we couldn’t have imagined at the time. For many people, AI has the potential to enhance productivity, improve services, and create entirely new careers and investment paths. As the landscape evolves, the real opportunity is to understand how these shifts may impact your life as a whole—and how to position yourself to benefit from the innovation ahead. If you’re not prepared to adapt, then you will not survive.
Where AI Is Already Helping Advisors Serve Clients Better
While the headlines may make it feel like AI is taking over, the reality is far more nuanced. And here’s a fun spoiler: AI helped me write this newsletter. In fact, I’ve been using it behind the scenes for months. It helps organize complex information, bring in broader context, and support my thinking — but it doesn’t replace the human experience, judgment, or personal perspective that goes into my advice. AI can enhance the process, but it can’t replicate the lived experience, values, and relationships that shape meaningful financial guidance.
- Personalization at Scale
AI‑enhanced tools now allow us to deliver deeper personalization to every client. These tools are to support — not replace — human decision‑making.
- Optimized Research & Communication
AI can summarize lengthy reports, generate initial drafts of market updates, and organize meeting notes. Advisors review everything — but the speed and clarity these tools offer is changing how quickly we can deliver insights.
- Workflow Efficiency
Automation of administrative tasks reduces time spent on routine work, allowing advisors to devote more energy to strategic conversations, tax‑efficient planning, and long‑term guidance.
What Your Future Financial Advisor Should Look Like
Advisors Are AI Navigators: Future advisors will be defined by their ability to deploy, interpret, and quality‑check AI tools, ensuring accuracy, relevance, and alignment with client goals. This becomes a superpower, not a threat.
Your Behavioral Coaches: The real differentiator becomes helping clients avoid emotional mistakes, navigate uncertainty, and stay aligned with their values — the work that can’t be automated.
Fiercely, Uncomfortably Honest — The future advisor isn’t someone who sugarcoats. They’re willing to challenge you, call out emotional missteps, and tell you the truth even when it’s difficult, because avoiding costly mistakes is part of the real human value advisors provide.
Life Architects, Not Just Planners: Instead of simply projecting retirement numbers, advisors help clients design the life they want and make the financial decisions that support it.
Radical Transparency: Clients appreciate clarity – “The AI builds the plan. I help you live it.”
AI Is Moving Fast — and Regulators Are Paying Close Attention
As AI becomes more common in financial services, regulators are working to ensure that innovation happens responsibly. Firms that use AI must still follow all existing compliance rules, and oversight is only increasing.
FINRA has made it clear that any public‑facing materials — even if created with the help of AI — must meet the same standards for accuracy, supervision, and proper disclosures as always. Using AI doesn’t reduce a firm’s responsibilities or the care required when communicating with clients.
The SEC is also closely monitoring how AI may be used in investment decision‑making. Their focus includes potential risks such as hidden biases, overly complex models, or situations where AI could influence recommendations in ways that conflict with a client’s best interests. Importantly, they’ve reiterated that current securities laws already apply to AI tools and must be followed carefully.
Consumer protection agencies are weighing in as well. The CFPB has cautioned that poorly designed chatbots or automated systems can confuse or frustrate consumers, emphasizing that AI should enhance — not replace — a high‑quality client experience.
Together, these safeguards help ensure that AI is used thoughtfully and responsibly across the financial industry. As innovation accelerates, regulatory guidance helps protect investors while still allowing the benefits of new technology to unfold.
The Real Bottom Line
Historically, innovation expands access rather than shrinking it. AI will help reduce time and cost barriers for many industries.
AI isn’t replacing people — it’s reshaping our society. And just like those early scientific calculators, AI doesn’t reduce the need for experts — it elevates what experts can do.
My role remains, to provide human connection when understanding your goals, interpreting the data, guiding your decisions, and helping you build a confident future — now with better tools to support you every step of the way.
AI performs the calculations; we apply the strategy, and partner with you to build the future you want.
Client Spotlight: Nikki Welch Cross Country Mortgage
Nikki Welsch is a Senior Vice President of Lending with more than two decades of experience helping clients navigate the mortgage process. Since starting her career in 1999, she has become known for delivering thoughtful, solutions-driven lending strategies tailored to a wide range of borrowers, including business owners and self-employed clients, who often face more complex financing situations. While a consistent top producer in the Michiana area holding licenses in both IN and MI, she also holds licenses in IL, OH, TN, GA and FL, bringing both flexibility and a strong understanding of different markets to every client relationship.
She works across both traditional and more specialized loan programs, including purchase financing, strategic refinancing, and non-traditional income scenarios. Nikki has developed a particular niche in working with self-employed borrowers, helping clients navigate income documentation, cash flow analysis, and lending structures that may fall outside standard guidelines. Through her role at CrossCountry Mortgage, she has access to more than 120 loan products, aiding in her ability to find solutions that fit, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Additionally, through her work network she’s still able to assist with clients who may need financing in one of the states she’s not currently licensed.
Nikki is widely regarded for her clear communication, attention to detail, and ability to navigate multifaceted underwriting scenarios with efficiency and precision. Her combination of experience, practical problem-solving, and approachable style makes her a trusted partner for clients and advisory teams looking for thoughtful guidance in mortgage planning. Her process is designed to provide clarity and confidence, even in time-sensitive or highly nuanced transactions.
Outside of her work, Nikki stays actively involved in her community and is passionate about financial education. She is currently a board member of the Edwardsburg Public Schools Foundation, and annually visits Edwardsburg High School, teaching about credit and how the impact of decisions made at a young age can last years into the future.
If you think Nikki's services would be beneficial to you reach out to her directly, or our team would be happy to provide an introduction.
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated does not have any formal relationships or arrangements with any of the external resources listed herein and does not endorse the products or services offered by these individuals or their firms.
Strategas: Quarterly Market Update
Strategas reviews a chaotic first quarter and looks ahead to the rest of the year. They also review an economic base case and update on there odds for a recession: Economic Base Case