On Wednesday, an independent RIA announced it had hired AI co-workers, complete with a chief of staff, which is the first org chart change in years that nobody had to interview for.
A day later, one of the largest RIA aggregators in the country picked the AI platform it'll run across its firms. And on Friday, ChatGPT learned to make the slide deck for your next client review.
Three stories from this week that matter for your practice.
An Independent RIA Just Hired AI Co-Workers. Their First Job Is Your Least Favorite One.
On Wednesday, WealthManagement.com reported that Connecticut Wealth Management, an independent RIA with $5.2 billion in assets, 45 advisors and more than 1,300 client families, signed a five-year partnership with Subatomic to build what both firms call an AI operating system.
The system is meant to connect the firm's custodian, portfolio management, CRM, planning and tax software, meeting notes, phone system, email and documents. An AI chief of staff hands work to AI co-workers, and the firm's people supervise them. The first phase is due to go live before the end of 2026.
The first job is the work around client meetings. That means prep from one view of the client, drafted follow-up emails, and calls that turn into tasks.
The firm runs about 35 clients per advisor, and the system is meant to protect that ratio while adding capacity. Subatomic's CEO Sam Sova put the firm's approach this way. "They had the foresight to hire AI when everyone else in wealth management seems to be buying AI."
Why you should care: You don't need a five-year build to borrow the playbook. The firm started with meetings because that's where the hours pile up, and the article notes that many AI notetakers already cover that same work for smaller firms.
The governance details are worth copying too. The system runs inside the firm's own security setup with role-based permissions, records every action the AI takes so a person or an auditor can review it, and leaves the firm owning its data. Those are good questions to ask any AI vendor you're considering, no matter your size.
And the article cites the WMIQ 2026 WealthStack Study, which found only 16% of firms running at least one AI agent in production. If you're still figuring out where to start, you're in pretty large company.
Source: Connecticut Wealth Management Hires Subatomic for AI OS (WealthManagement.com)
ChatGPT Can Now Build the Slide Deck for Your Next Client Review.
On Friday, OpenAI began rolling out Slides in ChatGPT, according to its release notes as reported by Superpower Daily. You can start a deck from a conversation, uploaded files or an outline, and even hand it an example deck to match the style and layout.
From there you can edit the text, images, shapes and charts yourself or ask ChatGPT to make the changes, and teammates can edit the same deck and leave comments. You can present right inside ChatGPT. On the web, decks export to PowerPoint, PDF or Google Slides, and the desktop app can open them in PowerPoint or Keynote.
It's rolling out gradually to eligible Pro, Business and Enterprise accounts with access to Space, so it may not show up in your account yet. Plus isn't on the list.
Why you should care: The review deck is one of those jobs that eats an evening and still looks like last year's. Giving ChatGPT your outline and your old deck as the style guide could get you to a solid first draft in minutes.
Two cautions before you try it. Keep client names, account numbers and balances out of it unless your firm has approved a business plan for client data, and treat anything you'd show prospects or a seminar crowd as marketing that goes through your normal compliance review, under the SEC Marketing Rule or FINRA Rule 2210 depending on how you're registered.
The charts deserve a second look too. A chart that looks right but uses the wrong number is the kind of mistake a client remembers, so check every figure against your own planning software before it goes on the screen.
Source: OpenAI adds collaborative slide decks to ChatGPT (Superpower Daily, citing OpenAI's release notes)
Focus Financial Picked Nevis to Run AI Across Its Firms.
On Thursday, Focus Financial Partners announced it had selected Nevis as its enterprise AI platform, to be used across the firm and its subsidiaries. WealthManagement.com's roundup notes that Focus, which cites more than $500 billion in advised assets, made what it called a significant investment in the deal without disclosing the amount.
Focus says the goal is to cut administrative work and give advisors more capacity. Nevis builds AI agents for advisory firms, has raised more than $40 million, and recently acquired Ledra AI, a voice AI startup.
Why you should care: The biggest firms are now picking AI platforms the way they once picked custodians, as a firm-wide decision rather than one advisor trying a tool. That's not a deal a solo advisor will get, and that's fine.
What it does mean is that clients of large firms will start to expect faster prep, quicker follow-ups and fewer forms. The good news is that the same kinds of tasks are already within reach for a small practice with the tools you have today, as long as you pick one workflow and do it well.
It's also a reminder to keep an eye on who owns your data. As AI vendors compete for big firms, the smaller firms that read their contracts closely will have the easiest time switching later.
Source: Wealthtech News roundup, October 16 (WealthManagement.com)
Watt, the Amplify for Advisors Agent
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Connecticut Wealth Management's system runs inside its own security setup, logs every action the AI takes, and leaves the firm owning its data. You probably won't build your own AI operating system, but you'll be pitched AI tools all year, and you can hold every one of them to the same standard. This week, set up a vendor checker that reads what a vendor sends you and tells you what's missing before you sign.
Step 1. In Claude, create a Project called "AI vendor check" (in ChatGPT, a custom GPT works the same way). Open its instructions and paste this.
You help me, a financial advisor running a small practice, review AI tools before I use them with my business or my clients. I'll paste what a vendor gives me, like their security or privacy page, terms of service, data processing agreement, SOC 2 summary, sales emails or answers to my questions. Check it against this list and mark each item as answered, partly answered or missing, quoting the exact wording you relied on. First, whether my data or my clients' data is used to train their models or anyone else's. Second, how long they keep my data, where it's stored and whether I can delete it. Third, whether I own my data and can export all of it if I leave. Fourth, which other companies process my data along the way. Fifth, their security proof, like a SOC 2 Type II report, encryption and access controls. Sixth, whether there's a log of what the AI did that I or an auditor can review, and whether I can limit what each person on my team can see. Seventh, how and how fast they'll tell me about a breach that involves my clients' information. Eighth, whether I review and approve everything before it reaches a client. Ninth, what the price includes and how it can change at renewal. Then write the follow-up questions I should send the vendor for anything missing, and a one-page summary I can save in my compliance file with the vendor name, the date and the open items. Never treat a marketing claim as proof, and if something isn't in what I pasted, say it's missing instead of guessing.
Step 2. Test it on a tool you already use. Paste that tool's privacy page and terms, and see what it flags. You might find a question you never thought to ask.
Step 3. Run it whenever a vendor pitches you and again before each renewal, send the follow-up questions it writes, and save the summary in your compliance file. If an examiner ever asks how you vetted your AI tools, you'll have the answer in one folder.
The demo shows you what a tool can do. The paperwork tells you what it does with your clients' information.
Sam is the creator of Amplify for Advisors and Watt, the Amplify for Advisors Agent. A former RIA owner whose work has been featured in Forbes, NerdWallet, Nasdaq, and more, he teaches financial advisors to use AI in their own voice while staying compliant.