Wealth management faces an AI transformation gap

The report, titled "Hidden In Pl(AI)n Sight," reveals that 98% of leadership teams are actively pursuing AI agendas, yet only 7% are currently building agentic AI capabilities. HCLTech identifies three primary blind spots impeding progress: an ambition gap focused on efficiency over innovation, an execution gap lacking investment in proprietary client data, and a strategy gap that fails to track AI’s impact on revenue growth.

Srinivasan Seshadri, HCLTech’s Chief Growth Officer, noted that the industry is struggling with a choices problem rather than an investment one. Although nearly every firm is spending on technology, very few are measuring the specific outcomes that matter, such as new client value. While 84% of leaders call for a redesign, only 12% track the resulting revenue. Regional readiness also varies significantly; firms in APAC and North America report 89% and 84% confidence levels respectively, while European firms lag behind at 38.3%. To bridge these gaps, HCLTech suggests that the most successful firms will be those that integrate AI with their unique proprietary client knowledge rather than relying solely on infrastructure.