Drawing on candid insights from senior leaders in wealth management, life insurance, and consultancy, the document explores how AI is utilised in regulated operational settings and identifies where the true challenges and priorities lie.

Transformation Nation focuses on how AI is being used in real operational settings inside regulated firms. It looks at where early use cases are delivering value, how firms are approaching risk and governance, and what practical demands the next phase of adoption will place on operating models.

As AI interest accelerates across the sector, Transformation Nation finds that maturity remains uneven. While many firms are already seeing measurable productivity gains through early use cases such as quality assurance, documentation and workflow automation, scaling AI safely and sustainably continues to present significant challenges. Governance, explainability, data quality, regulatory alignment and cultural readiness consistently emerge as the defining constraints on progress. Aveni undertook the research to address many of these points and capture the perspectives of those accountable for delivering change.

Joseph Twigg, CEO at Aveni, said: “AI is now central to conversations about the future of financial services, but there is still a wide gap between ambition and preparedness.

“With this report we wanted to move beyond speculation and marketing narratives and understand how leaders are actually navigating AI adoption, what’s working, what isn’t, and what responsible transformation really looks like in a highly regulated sector.”

“Financial services has a unique responsibility when it comes to AI,” Mr Twigg added. “Trust, accountability and customer outcomes must sit at the centre of adoption. Our aim with this report is to provide a realistic benchmark for the industry, one that supports informed decision-making rather than fear-driven or hype-led implementation.”

Those interviewed included: Nick Holmes, managing director of client services and oversight at Quilter Cheviot; Myrsini Alexandratou, head of strategy and innovation, COO at Royal London; Gregg Schofield, head of advice strategy at Wesleyan; James Richardson, head of innovation at Shackleton and Mike Barrett, consulting director at Lang Cat.

The report highlights a change in executive priorities around AI. Many leaders now see it as a core capability that will shape operating models, adviser workflows and customer engagement, rather than a bolt-on.

However, they caution that progress will not come from isolated pilots or generic tools. Instead, success will depend on redesigning processes, building robust oversight frameworks and strengthening collaboration between firms, technology providers and regulators.

Transformation Nation explores what lies ahead for the sector over the next 12–18 months, including the rise of more specialised, finance-specific AI models, early adoption of agent-based systems, which will require greater scrutiny around assurance and risk management as regulatory expectations grow.

Transformation Nation: The AI Innovation Shift in financial services is available here.