A lot of AI in wealth management sounds impressive. Fewer products hold up in real use.
The AI Demo Drop is back at Future Proof Festival 2026.
Seven companies will take the stage. Each gets seven minutes to demo live in front of 5,000+ advisors, RIA operators, asset managers, and investors.
You see exactly what the product does.
There’s no cost to apply or to demo.
Applications close June 22 at 5 p.m. ET.
Apply now. Link in bio!
The Year 5 Future Proof Festival Agenda is LIVE.
150+ speakers.
80+ sessions.
4 stages. 4 days in Huntington Beach.
This year’s agenda is built from hundreds of conversations with leaders across wealth management, focused on how RIAs are actually operating and competing right now.
Not just sessions to sit through, but conversations you can take back and apply.
Last Wednesday, Future Proof Citywide wrapped up in Miami Beach.
Nearly 4,000 attendees, 30,000+ prescheduled 1-to-1 meetings, and 2.5 days of conversations with 140+ speakers exploring the future of AI across wealth and investment management.
Thank you to the attendees, speakers, sponsors, media, vendors, and the incredible team and partners behind the scenes who made it all possible.
We’re grateful for this community.
See you in September for Future Proof Festival.
As AI handles more of your workload, what happens to your brain? How do you protect it?
At Future Proof Citywide, Josh Herring, CEO of Longevity Science Foundation, shared a perspective on AI and cognition that cuts right to the center of one of the industry’s biggest questions: what remains the human edge?
His view was nuanced. AI itself isn't inherently harmful or beneficial, it depends on what we choose to offload.
If we use AI to go straight for the outcome instead of engaging the neural pathways associated with critical thinking, that's where the risk shows up. But when AI is used as scaffolding, something that supports and builds around an existing thought process, it can help people develop better frameworks around ideation, synthesis, and decision-making.
What stood out most was his emphasis on curiosity. If the goal is simply finding the answer, AI will probably hurt your approach. But if you stay curious about the process of getting to the answer, it can be wildly beneficial.
That idea connects directly to one of the core themes we’ll explore at Future Proof Festival this year: The Human Advisor's Edge.
As technology reshapes wealth management, the differentiator may not be access to AI alone, but also the ability to think critically, exercise judgment, build trust, and stay intellectually engaged while using it.
Register now to join the conversation at Future Proof Festival, Sept. 14-17, in Huntington Beach, CA.
Back in March at a live taping of Bloomberg's Masters in Business at Future Proof Citywide, Barry Ritholtz asked Carson Block about AI, NVIDIA, and the market's obsession with mega-cap tech.
Carson's response shifted the focus:
"The wrong question is, 'What do you think of the valuations or stock prices of XYZ of these AI companies?'
And the right question is, 'What is about to happen to society and to the market as a result of AI?’"
The CIO of Muddy Waters Capital argued that "flows have driven so much of this," explaining how "the passive bid" and "squeezing floats" can create "a parabolic impact on stock prices" for the winners.
He also reflected on how his own thinking had evolved:
"A month ago, I wouldn't even refer to these models as AI… But I call it AI now."
That conversation happened in March.
Now heading into September, Future Proof Festival, Sept. 14–17 in Huntington Beach, CA, will bring together investors, advisors, operators, and builders to continue the conversation around what AI could mean for markets, investing, and the future of wealth management.
Are you building the next AI platform for investing?
Apply to demo live on stage at the AI Demo Drop and show how your technology can change the way advisors work, scale, and serve clients. Link in bio.
The simplest way to show up in AI search is to let your clients speak for you.
Samantha Russell, Chief Evangelist, FMG, broke this down in a really practical way at Future Proof Citywide this March. AI tools are starting to rely more on what your clients say about you through testimonials than what you say about yourself through marketing.
But there's a clear disconnect. 80-90% of consumers want to read reviews before engaging an advisor… but fewer than 10% of firms actually have them.
Her approach:
- Start by soliciting feedback from your clients, almost like an NPS
- Make sure you're doing it in a compliant way, where you can show you’ve asked every client
- Then decide if you want to display it on your website
- And if you push it out further to platforms like Google, you start to get a lot more bang for your buck
What really matters is the context – what you actually helped with, the specific situations, the types of clients, the real experience.
AI tools are looking for real feedback from real people who have used your service.
Watch the full session on our YouTube.
We'll continue this conversation at Future Proof Festival, Sept. 14–17 in Huntington Beach, CA, where industry leaders will share how they're growing without gimmicks, building durable distribution through specialization, referrals, partnerships, and content that compounds over time.
Ticket prices go up Friday. Join us!
5,000+ decision-makers. One stage.
The AI Demo Drop puts seven companies in front of that audience with one job: prove it works — live, on stage.
No slides. No safety net. Just real workflows.
Applications close June 22 at 5:00pm ET.
Learn more from the blog and apply now. Link in bio!
What AI tools can nudge clients toward better outcomes, and protect them from their worst instincts? Ian Wenik, Editor, Citywire, asked during a panel at Future Proof Citywide.
Brian Portnoy, Founder & CEO, Shaping Wealth, offered a different lens. People are acting in normal, adaptive ways and the behaviors we call biases are part of that.
This shifts the role of the advisor. Advisors can instead aim to offer a higher standard for advice as "true guides," by focusing how clients make decisions, process emotions, navigate change, and build deeper forms of trust. The opportunity is to use that understanding to drive lasting change, moving beyond one-time exercises like risk tolerance questionnaires toward better outcomes.
Watch the full session on our Youtube.
We'll continue this conversation at Future Proof Festival in September, exploring "The Human Advisor's Edge," and how advisors show up in the moments that matter, guide behavior, communicate through uncertainty, and build long-term trust.
Prices increase this Friday. Register now to join us!
"This is not going to be a straight shoot up and to the right. We're going to go through these white knuckle periods. But the reality, the CapEx dollars speak for themselves."
- Dan Ives, Global Head of Technology Research, Wedbush Securities, at Future Proof Citywide 2026
We're only a few years into what he sees as an 8–10 year AI buildout.
So while there's noise right now, around valuations, competition, and “AI fears,” his view is that this is part of the process, not the end of the trend.
Big tech is still spending, and doubling down.
That's why, even in a nervous market, he believes this is a moment to focus on the winners, not step away from the space.
Head to our YouTube channel to hear his insights straight from the stage. Link in bio.
At Future Proof Citywide in March, Burt White, CEO at Carson Group, outlined three challenges facing advisors: a capacity crisis, an expertise crisis, and a human connection crisis.
AI is already starting to solve the first two, giving advisors time back and expanding access to expertise.
Which shifts the real opportunity to how that time gets reinvested, especially in building stronger client relationships.
He notes at Carson Group, that shift is already driving results: advisors increased households per advisor by 17%, enabling more and deeper relationships while growing enterprise value.
At Future Proof Festival this September, we'll build on this, exploring The Human Advisor's Edge and how advisors show up in the moments that matter. From running more effective meetings to guiding client decisions, explaining tradeoffs, and communicating through uncertainty, these are the skills that drive trust, retention, and referrals.
Register now to learn how to strengthen client relationships, improve communication in critical moments, and apply these strategies in your business.
"The marketing and growth strategies that got you to where you are today probably aren't going to help you keep scaling to get to your growth goals," said Eden Ovadia, CEO and Co-Founder at FINNY, at Future Proof Citywide.
Advisor-led growth, like referrals, works really well early on. But as firms scale and advisor time becomes more expensive, those same activities start to produce diminishing returns and growth begins to plateau.
That's when firms have to shift from relying primarily on advisor time to building systems that turn trust into consistent opportunity.
Register for Future Proof Festival, Sept. 14-17 in Huntington Beach, CA, where we'll dive into Growth Without Gimmicks.
Learn how leading firms are moving beyond advisor-led growth and short-term tactics to build durable distribution and turn trust into consistent opportunity. Walk away with practical strategies and a clearer path to sustainable growth.
If you're an investor, the current environment might feel risky, but it's not a clear sign to get bearish, Tom Lee, CIO, Head of Research, Fundstrat, said at Future Proof Citywide 2026.
Yes, there's a lot of uncertainty right now, especially around geopolitics and oil, but we've seen this before. Since 2020, markets have taken hit after hit and still held up.
His stance is to pay attention to that resilience.
Tom brings a surprising take on oil. Even if prices stay high, it may not necessarily be bad for U.S. stocks. In fact, it could actually help because the U.S. is in a stronger position than other economies and the market is heavily tilted toward growth.
Listen to the full session on YouTube. Link in bio.
