Ask most advisers whether AI is saving them time and the answer is yes. Ask whether it has changed the economics of their practice and the answer gets harder.
Our research with Signal Advisory found that 47% of AI-engaged advice professionals save at least a quarter of their time on tasks where they use AI. That's a meaningful gain. Yet only 20% report a material benefit in lower cost to serve, and just 5% have retired a software tool or service as a result of AI.
In other words, AI is creating capacity before it reduces cost. The time it saves is currently being absorbed back into existing processes rather than turned into more clients or simpler operations.
AI has been added, not integrated
63% of respondents agree AI has been added to their tech stack without replacing anything. 58% say AI has improved the quality of their records more than it has freed up time.
"People aren't replacing anything currently, they're just doing things a bit quicker." Head of advice technology, dealer group
There's also a hidden cost in checking the work AI produces. 30% say reviewing AI outputs consumes much of the time the tools save, rising to 42% in practices with 21 or more advisers, compared with 27% in the smallest practices. If review is added as a separate manual step, it can quietly cancel out the benefit.
Demand isn't the constraint
This matters because the opportunity is real. 81% of respondents say their business could fill a 30% increase in adviser capacity: 53% easily, and a further 29% with some additional marketing or referral effort. Only 2% say demand would hold them back.
The constraint is the ability to turn saved hours into more advice delivered.
Depth of adoption makes the difference
Practices that have embedded AI across their advice process are up to three times more likely than those still piloting to report broader business benefits. 32% of practices with embedded AI strongly agree their clients are better served because of it, compared with 8% of those in partial production and 4% of those piloting. 13% of embedded practices have retired software or services, compared with around 4–5% of the rest.
The research suggests depth matters. Isolated use creates pockets of efficiency, whereas embedding AI across the workflow gives those gains a path to flow through to business outcomes.
You can't manage what you haven't measured
The weakest result in the study is measurement. Only 28% have measured the time or cost impact of their AI tools, and among practice staff that drops to 26%, compared with 56% at head offices. Yet 58% say measured hours saved per adviser is the evidence that would most justify further AI investment.
Measurable objectives are also one of the weakest areas of strategy: 26% say their current business strategy doesn't define measurable objectives for AI well.
What you can do now
- Set a baseline before you scale. Record how long meeting notes, file preparation and advice documents take today.
- Measure the full cycle, not just the task. Track the time saved, the review time added and whether the saving was actually redeployed.
- Decide where saved time should go. More client meetings, faster turnaround or more reviews. If you don't decide, the time tends to disappear.
- Look for what you can retire. For every AI tool added, ask which manual step, check or system it should replace.
- Design efficient review. Build checks in at the point of hand-off so verification doesn't become a second job.
Where Iress fits
At Iress, we believe the next stage of AI adoption is about moving from isolated productivity gains to meaningful improvements across the advice journey. That means embedding intelligence into the workflows advisers already rely on, connecting trusted data with the moments that matter and keeping advisers firmly in control.
Through Xplan Evolution, we’re reimagining how technology supports advice: combining the depth, data and capability of Xplan with AI-enabled tools that help advisers find information faster, reduce friction and create more capacity for client conversations.
Download the full report for the full value capture findings and visit our Roadmap Hub for more on Xplan Evolution.
