Tag: Automation
The WealthStack Podcast: AI, Capacity and the Future of Advice with Mark Swan

The WealthStack Podcast: AI, Capacity and the Future of Advice with Mark Swan

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Everyone in wealth management is talking about artificial intelligence, but the more important question is what happens when it stops being just another feature and starts becoming the operating layer for the firm. Not just a notetaker. Not just a chatbot. Something that can actually help advisors scale capacity, reduce operational drag and make the tech stack feel a whole lot less fragmented.

In this episode of The WealthStack Podcast, host Shannon Rosic chats with Mark Swan, CEO and co-founder of Nevis, to explore what it really takes for AI to move beyond point solutions and into the core infrastructure of a modern RIA. He unpacks the difference between horizontal AI tools and vertical AI platforms, why voice may become the next major interface in advisor technology, and how firms can start thinking about AI not as a collection of disconnected tools, but as a system for orchestrating work across the front, middle and back office.

Key takeaways:

  • Why the real bottleneck in wealth management is advisor capacity, not demand
  • The difference between AI point solutions and a truly unified platform
  • What lessons from digital banking can teach wealth firms about scaling and reducing costs
  • Why voice could become a much more natural way for advisors to interact with their technology 
  • How lowering the cost to serve could make professional financial advice accessible to more clients

Resources:

Connect with Shannon Rosic:

Connect with Mark Swan:

About Our Guest:

Mark Swan is the CEO and Co-founder of Nevis, an AI platform built specifically for wealth management firms. Originally from Scotland, he brings a global perspective shaped by his experience helping scale Revolut into one of the largest digital banks in the world. At Nevis, Mark is focused on reducing the administrative burden that limits advisor capacity, using AI to streamline workflows and improve how firms operate. His work centers on helping advisors spend less time on processes and more time with clients, while also expanding access to financial advice through more efficient and scalable systems.

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The WealthStack Podcast: Are You Hiring AI or Just Buying Tools? with Subatomic’s Sam Sova

The WealthStack Podcast: Are You Hiring AI or Just Buying Tools? with Subatomic’s Sam Sova

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Everyone in wealth management says they’re using AI right now. But if we’re being honest, most of it still looks like faster note taking, cleaner CRM updates or slightly better workflows. Helpful? Yes. Transformational? Not even close.

In this episode of The WealthStack Podcast, Shannon Rosic sits down with Subatomic CEO Sam Sova to unpack the much bigger shift happening beneath the surface: AI that doesn’t just assist advisors, but actually works alongside them.

He explains why the industry is still stuck in a “1995 internet moment,” what it really means to move from AI tools to AI coworkers, and how leading RIAs are already using agentic AI to orchestrate workflows, unlock growth and fundamentally rethink how their firms operate.

Key takeaways:

  • Why most AI in wealth management today is just incremental improvement, not transformation
  • The difference between AI tools and true agentic AI coworkers
  • How AI orchestration creates a single, intelligent view of the client
  • What “hiring AI” looks like inside a modern RIA
  • Why operational efficiency is just the starting point and growth is the real unlock

Resources:

Connect with Shannon Rosic:

Connect with Sam Sova:

About Our Guest:

Sam Sova is the Co-Founder and CEO of Subatomic, where he focuses on helping wealth management firms rethink how they operate through AI-driven systems. With over two decades of experience inside large organizations such as Fiserv, TIAA, AT&T, and Johnson Controls, he has led transformation efforts centered on solving complex operational challenges. Today, he brings that background into the evolving AI space, working with firms to move beyond traditional tools and adopt AI coworkers that can streamline workflows, unify data, and support more meaningful client engagement.

 

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The WealthStack Podcast: Rethinking Technology, AI and the Advisor Experience with Freedom Dumlao

The WealthStack Podcast: Rethinking Technology, AI and the Advisor Experience with Freedom Dumlao

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Technology in wealth management isn’t just changing, it’s colliding with reality. Advisors are expected to deliver deeply personalized experiences, operate at consumer-grade speed and navigate increasing complexity, all on top of legacy systems never designed for this moment. As AI accelerates what’s possible, the real challenge isn’t adopting new tools, it’s rethinking how technology supports the advisor experience from the ground up.

In this episode of The WealthStack Podcast, host Shannon Rosic sits down with Vestmark CTO Freedom Dumlao to go behind the curtain of modern wealthtech and unpack why advisor experience, data integration and agentic AI are now the real battlegrounds for scaling RIAs. 

Key takeaways:

  • Why consumer software experiences are redefining advisor expectations at work
  • How integration challenges quietly drain time and limit true personalization
  • Why agentic AI is the real leap forward
  • Why the advisor’s moat is validation, not information
  • How compliance doesn’t kill innovation, it sharpens it

Resources:

Connect with Shannon Rosic:

Connect with Freedom Dumlao:

About Our Guest:

Freedom Dumlao is the Chief Technology Officer at Vestmark, where he leads the firm’s technology strategy with a focus on resilience, scalability, and building long-term client confidence. He brings a disciplined, hands-on approach shaped by senior leadership roles at Amazon, Zipcar, Flexcar, Wayfair, and Drift, including his work on the Alexa machine learning and AI platform. A strong advocate for open-source communities, Freedom also serves as a board member and treasurer of Ruby Central. Outside of work, he enjoys woodworking, cooking, and spending time with his two daughters building robots and experimenting with electronics.

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The WealthStack Podcast: Portfolio Personalization Without the Ops Headache with Wes Caywood

The WealthStack Podcast: Portfolio Personalization Without the Ops Headache with Wes Caywood

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As advisors race to deliver “personalized” portfolios at scale, a hard reality is setting in: most personalization is still just a model tweak with a nicer label. Meanwhile, clients want more hands-on service, more transparency and more customization, while firms are trying to grow without hiring an army of operations and investment staff. The result is a widening gap between what clients expect and what legacy portfolio tools can realistically deliver. The firms that win won’t be the ones stacking more complexity. They’ll be the ones using automation to deliver truly bespoke outcomes, with clearer decisioning, tighter risk controls and better records behind every trade.

In this episode of The WealthStack Podcast, host Shannon Rosic sits down with Wes Caywood, head of distribution at Pave Finance, to unpack what “real personalization” actually means in 2026, why portfolio complexity rarely translates into client-perceived value and how automation can make portfolio management more defensible, not less. 

Key takeaways:

  • How to modernize portfolio management with “blowing up” your existing workflows
  • Where AI actually fits in portfolio management
  • Where the personalization gap shows up most clearly (and why it becomes an ops and time problem fast)
  • What automation should capture for compliance, auditability, and transparency 
  • The biggest mistake firms make when evaluating portfolio tech

Resources:

Connect with Shannon Rosic:

Connect with Wes Caywood:

About Our Guest:

Wes Caywood is the Head of Distribution at Pave Finance, where he works closely with advisors and firms to modernize portfolio management through thoughtful use of technology and automation. With more than 20 years in financial services, Wes brings deep experience working with sophisticated clients, family offices, and advisory teams. A U.S. Naval Academy graduate and former Navy officer, he is driven by a service-oriented mindset and a focus on helping advisors deliver personalized, well-prepared client experiences at scale.

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The WealthStack Podcast: The Strategy Behind Allworth’s 40+ AI Initiatives

The WealthStack Podcast: The Strategy Behind Allworth’s 40+ AI Initiatives

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As artificial intelligence becomes table stakes, RIAs and enterprises alike are experimenting with tools to streamline workflows, improve client experiences and scale smarter. But while many firms are testing isolated tools, the real opportunity lies in weaving AI into the very DNA of a business, transforming it from a tech experiment into a strategic advantage. 

In this episode of the WealthStack Podcast, host Shannon Rosic speaks with John Bunch, CEO of Allworth Financial, to explore how one of the industry’s rapidly growing RIAs is pushing AI beyond pilot programs. With more than 40 active initiatives and an internal AI Council guiding adoption, Allworth is proving that the future of advice isn’t just about efficiency, it’s about strategy, culture and client impact.

John discusses:

  • Why Allworth launched 40+ projects
  • How AI can elevate client relationships 
  • The role of the AI Council in driving adoption and ROI
  • His “fail fast, fix it or ditch it” approach to innovation and automation beyond AI
  • What it takes to align business strategy and tech strategy in practice

Resources:

Connect with Shannon Rosic:

Connect With John Bunch:

About Our Guest:

John Bunch is the Chief Executive Officer at Allworth Financial. Universally recognized within the wealth management industry, he has accumulated an extensive 30-year history of successfully leading and expanding award-winning organizations that serve both retail and institutional clients.

Before coming to Allworth, John spent over three years as the Chief Financial Services Director at Evelyn Partners (formerly Tilney Smith & Williamson), a leading integrated wealth management and professional services firm headquartered in the United Kingdom. Prior to that, he was the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Edelman Financial Engines – where he oversaw 130 branch offices – and the Chief Executive Officer of The Mutual Fund Store. Before that, he held several key institutional sector leadership positions, including Executive Vice President at TD Ameritrade and Divisional Senior Vice President at Charles Schwab & Co.

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