There is an assumption that AI will mean smaller, more productive teams. But of the RIAs in Advisor Growth Strategies’ 2026 Compensation Trends Survey, most who are planning changes due to AI are planning to add. 8% said AI has led them to plan for less hiring, while 28% said it has led them to plan for more.
Most Firms Haven’t Moved Yet
The larger group haven’t changed course on hiring plans due to AI. A third of firms (32%) said AI has not changed their hiring plans, and another 34% said they are unsure how it will affect them. Of these two-thirds, one group has looked evaluated the current landscape and decided its staffing model holds for now while the other is still working out what the tools can do inside its own workflows before making shifts. For both, the practical result is the same: hiring continues on the plan they already had.
The rest of the survey bears that out. Advisor hiring rose 15% from AGS’s 2025 compensation report, and 74% of firms hired at least one advisor in the past year.
Whatever firms expect from AI, it has not slowed their search for advisory talent.
More Capacity Has Created Demand for Different People
The firms that do plan to hire more described two reasons. Some expect AI to expand how much each advisor and team can handle, and they plan to add staff to take advantage of that capacity rather than bank it as savings. Others plan to add technology specialists, people who can select, implement, and maintain the tools enabling the work of the firm.
Research on AI and work has placed advisors among the occupations exposed to AI*, but the findings show firms are moving the other way, with 74% hiring at least one advisor in the past year. Our view is that AI is more likely to augment the tools advisors use than to replace their role in the client relationship.
“What we’re seeing so far is that AI isn’t impacting the relationship advisors are building with their clients. It’s impacting the work around and enhancing relationship management: meeting prep, note-taking, CRM updates, and developing and refining advice documents. Firms are just starting to evaluate the required support model for advisors and whether they can get operational leverage through AI, which eventually will reduce the need for incremental service and operational professionals as the firm grows. The advisor is still the person the client trusts, and there is no evidence firms are trying to affect that trusted relationship.”
– John Furey
Org Charts Will Change Before Headcount Does
The sample of firms that have acted is still small, and the picture will look different a year from now, but what the current data suggests is that the first effect of AI on RIA staffing is a change in the mix of roles, with technology talent appearing on org charts that never had it, rather than a reduction in total people.
For firms still in the unsure group, the more useful question may be less about how many people they will need and more about which roles will look different once the tools are part of daily work, and whether their compensation and career paths are built for those roles.
Sources
Advisor Growth Strategies, 2026 Compensation Trends Survey.
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