Michael Kitces: AI's main effect will be deeper client engagements

Michael Kitces argued at the eMoney Advisor 2026 Summit that AI's main effect will be deeper client engagements, not more adviser capacity, according to PLANADVISER. He rejected the idea that automation would let advisers serve hundreds of clients.

Tools might save 30 minutes or an hour in plan preparation and analysis, but then create additional hours of client conversations and implementation work, Kitces said. That trade points toward fee expansion rather than fee compression, because more comprehensive planning supports higher prices. "That's better advice, that strengthens our value proposition, that strengthens our pricing," he said.

Kitces also described clients consulting tools such as ChatGPT about their plans as an upside. Clients who once disengaged rather than ask questions when they were confused now "come back ready for a more engaged conversation," he said, and the result is often a more productive discussion rather than a challenge to the adviser's expertise.

Earlier technology waves shrank adviser capacity because firms kept adding services, Kitces said; advisers once managed hundreds of client relationships, while many today serve closer to 100 households.