AI use among financial advisers rises by 31 percentage points in a year

The proportion of UK financial advisers using artificial intelligence (AI) has increased by 31 percentage points over the past year, analysis from Intelliflo has revealed.

Its 2026 UK Advice Efficiency Survey found that AI adoption had risen from 43 per cent 12 months ago to 74 per cent.

While the report argued that AI adoption was transforming advice delivery, it also highlighted persistent operational challenges, as fragmented technology and poor integration continued to drain firms’ resources and impact client outcomes.

Firms were found to be using AI for manual administrative work rather than for the advice itself, with note-taking and transcription the most common application (87 per cent), followed by report writing (44 per cent).

Report writing was cited as the most time-intensive task, with 30 per cent of advisers spending three or more house per report, while 10 per cent spent over five hours on each.

Fragmented systems remained the primary operational problem, as 61 per cent of firms ran five or more core systems and 57 per cent had four or more investment platforms.

Over two thirds (68 per cent) of advisers cited manual data entry as a challenge, while 63 per cent pointed to poor system integration.

More than a third (38 per cent) reported seeing data errors in at least 11 out of every 100 client cases.

However, digitisation aspirations were outpacing execution, with paper usage still commonplace despite advisers wanting near-complete digital workflows.

Advisers were asked to rate how efficient they believed current financial advice journey workflows were out of 10, and the average efficiency rating stood at 6.23.

Only a quarter (25 per cent) rated their workflows at eight or above, while 75 per cent felt their current processes restrict their ability to deliver good client outcomes to some degree.

If advisers’ time was freed up by more streamlined processes and improved efficiency, 66 per cent would serve more clients and 47 per cent would focus on business development, while 17 per cent would move to a four-day working week.

“Our 2026 Advice Efficiency Survey shows the advice profession has made up its mind on AI, with adoption jumping from 43 per cent to 74 per cent in a year,” said Intelliflo CEO, Nick Eatock.

“But firms are bolting these tools onto infrastructure that's already fragmented. Efficiency sits at just 6.23 out of 10, and three-quarters of advice professionals say their processes limit the client outcomes they can deliver.

“There's a clear business case for modern, integrated solutions. Advisers told us they want to grow their client base and build their business. Done well, technology lets them do both.”

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