Nearly all wealth management leadership teams are pursuing artificial intelligence, but few are building systems that can carry out tasks with limited human direction, according to an HCLTech study. The findings show a gap between firms’ AI plans and changes to the way they work.
HCLTech said 98% of wealth management leadership teams are actively pursuing an AI agenda. Slightly more than 7% are building agentic AI capabilities. These tools can complete a series of tasks toward a goal, rather than respond only to individual requests.
The study also found that 84% believe their operating models need a fundamental redesign to make full use of AI. However, fewer than 10% are prepared for that transition, according to HCLTech. The figures suggest that firms recognise the scale of the work while remaining at an early stage of carrying it out.
HCLTech called the report Hidden In Pl(AI)n Sight. It worked with Evidenza to create 1,066 AI personas modelled on senior wealth management decision-makers across 17 markets. Industry practitioners, researchers and subject experts helped design and validate the research.
The company described the method as synthetic research. The personas were modelled on decision-makers rather than being 1,066 executives interviewed for a conventional survey. That distinction matters when reading the percentages, which describe results from the modelled personas.
HCLTech identified three gaps between firms’ AI plans and their business goals. It said firms often fund projects aimed at efficiency even when they recognise the need for broader change. Technology spending also moves ahead of investment in firms’ own client data and insights.
The third gap concerns measurement. Firms track whether they have adopted AI but often do not track whether those projects bring in revenue or improve client value. Although 84% favour a major redesign of their operating models, only 12% measure the new revenue that such changes should produce, the study found.
Srinivasan Seshadri, HCLTech’s chief growth officer and global head of financial services, said firms need to be clearer about the programmes they fund and the results they expect. “The industry doesn’t have an investment problem. It has a choice problem,” he said.
The study found that executives placed greater value on data collected directly from clients and their behaviour than on cloud platforms, technology infrastructure or AI partnerships as a source of competitive advantage. It also reported that nearly 80% expect future leaders to combine AI with human expertise and outside partners.
The research reported the highest confidence in AI readiness and transformation in the Asia-Pacific region, at 89%. North America followed at 84%, while Europe recorded 38.3%. The report did not present those regional figures as measures of how many firms have deployed agentic AI.
HCLTech said the results point to a need for firms to connect AI spending with changes in daily operations and clear business measures. Its findings describe where the modelled decision-makers see gaps today; they do not establish how quickly firms will close them.
For wealth managers, the study draws a distinction between adding AI tools and changing the work those tools support. HCLTech’s figures show broad interest in AI, while active development of agentic capabilities remains limited.
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