Leadership in an AI-Driven World: Insights from FSI’s AI Task Force

Introduced by a remarkable AI-generated avatar of our President & CEO, Dale Brown, FSI OneVoice 2026 featured an engaging panel on the growing use of artificial intelligence in the financial services industry. 

Dubbed “Leadership in an AI-Driven World: Insights from FSI’s AI Task Force,” the conversation, moderated by FSI Board Member Mark Steffe, President and CEO of First Command Financial Services, brought together FSI AI Task Force members Colleen Bell, President of Innovation and Experience at Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., John Sweeney, CEO of Praxis Solutions, and Bob Coppola, Chief Technology Officer at Sanctuary Wealth.  

Steffe opened the session by asking panelists about the most surprising or even slightly scary way they have seen AI used.  

“I’d have to say the video that Dale was on earlier, the avatar,” Sweeney told the audience. “I think it’s a great way to scale our voices … we just have to be cautious and put the right labels on it.”  

Bell explained that she asked ChatGPT how to help her 13-year-old son get over a recent heartbreak. “It gave me great answers,” she said. “You really can use it for anything in your life, whether personal or work.” 

Coppola referred to a time when the tech was less than helpful, highlighting that AI can behave unpredictably and reinforcing the need for guardrails and human oversight.  

“I was using Copilot, and I fed it some information and asked it to help me reduce my storage bills in AWS,” he said. “It came back with a horrifying response. It was pure sarcasm, suggesting I start using floppy disks and tell everybody I’m going retro.” 

The focus then turned to key findings and lessons learned from FSI’s recent white paper, Artificial Intelligence: Balancing Innovation, Interoperability, and Oversight, created to guide the responsible and effective adoption of AI across the industry.   

Panelists discussed strategies for implementation, emphasizing the importance of starting with a business need rather than experimenting with AI for its own sake.  

“Start with a business problem. Where do you have sand in your gears?” Sweeney said, adding that for many organizations, friction points can include time-intensive onboarding and repetitive compliance tasks.   

Bell called for beginning with a strong data foundation before utilizing AI. “Garbage in, garbage out,” she explained, noting that structured and governed data is critical to reliable AI outputs, and that investments in interoperability and data governance are some of the prerequisites to responsibly scaling the technology.

AI is Already Helping Firms

At Cambridge, Bell explained, the technology is being used to significantly reduce the time it takes to open new accounts. What once required weeks of work can now be accomplished within minutes. The firm is also leveraging internal AI tools to tackle advisor questions, reduce the volume of inbound calls and free staff to focus on higher-value tasks.  

Coppola said that Sanctuary’s measured approach has the firm deploying AI tools for things like call transcription and task creation.  

“We bifurcated our strategy for advisors and the home office,” he said, emphasizing the need to customize tools for different groups of users. 

At Praxis, AI leaders have focused on using the technology to help with client acquisition and alignment. “AI helps junior advisors act with the effectiveness of [senior advisors],” Sweeney said, highlighting that the technology has helped improve their ability to match clients and advisors. 

Start Small

The panelists agreed that early AI implementation often centers around internal productivity tools, like chatbots, document summary mechanisms and information-surfacing applications. These tools, they said, tend to be lower risk and easier to measure than client-facing technologies, and such projects allow firms to build confidence in wielding AI.  

A critical component of AI implementation is measurement, according to the panel. Bell explained that Cambridge separately tracks hours saved for advisors and back-office teams. Sweeney said his firm expects AI investments to provide a return on investment within 12 to 18 months of deployment.   

Coppola noted that some practical measurements include a reduction in support ticket volume and an increase in the number of IT inquiries resolved through self-service channels.  

Finally, the panel discussed how the use of AI is reshaping, but not replacing, the advisor role. As Coppola explained, “AI models have more knowledge than advisors. The job changes. Advisors can focus on relationships, fiduciary responsibilities and client interaction. They become more like life coaches.”  

The conversation made it clear that AI adoption is an evolving, but promising, process. If firms begin with a defined business problem, invest in data governance and closely measure results, they can capture significant, sustainable value.  

For FSI members attending the session, the message was clear: AI is already changing how firms operate and compete. Those who don’t engage with it thoughtfully and with clear business intent will be left behind.