BKLM ADVISOR INTELLIGENCE · OCTOBER 2026
Give AI a job. Then measure the work.
A small, measurable pilot can reveal more than a polished demonstration.
Published October 20, 2026 · BKLM Consulting
Recent AI announcements offer a practical theme for advisory firms preparing their 2027 technology plans: define the work a system should complete, then decide how people will supervise the result.
Schwab announced Charley on September 30, with a phased rollout to eligible U.S. retail clients beginning in October. The assistant is designed to answer questions, surface account information, complete selected service actions, and connect clients to a representative. Schwab also cautions that responses can be inaccurate or incomplete and should be verified.
WealthAi’s onboarding announcement describes agents coordinating client information, documents, identity checks, and KYC tasks across systems and teams. Those descriptions establish the vendor’s intended capabilities. They do not, by themselves, demonstrate the time savings or reliability a particular advisory firm would achieve.
Choose one workflow to evaluate
A useful pilot begins with a narrow, repeatable task. Define its starting point, required inputs, acceptable output, and person responsible for completion. Avoid making the first objective “use more AI.” A better objective might be reducing the manual effort required to assemble a complete meeting-preparation packet.
Measure the existing process before introducing the tool. Include the time spent checking the work, correcting mistakes, and resolving exceptions. If a new system produces a draft quickly but requires extensive rework, its apparent speed may not translate into greater capacity.
Make responsibility visible
Decide who reviews each output and which actions require approval. Ask the provider to demonstrate how users can identify the information behind a result, correct it, and determine whether a requested action actually completed.
For tools handling client information, include your firm’s technology and compliance leads in the evaluation. The questions should be concrete: what information is accessible, who can authorize access, how permissions are removed, and what records remain when an error needs to be investigated.
Assess the experience for staff and clients
A pilot should test ordinary days and exceptions. Include missing documents, conflicting information, an unfamiliar account type, or a request that needs a person’s judgment. Observe whether the system makes the next step clear or leaves staff to untangle an incomplete process.
Ask the employees who perform the work what became easier and what became harder. Their experience may reveal training or process changes that matter as much as the software itself.
BKLM Perspective
Technology earns a place in the operating model when it improves a defined outcome consistently. For 2027, build your review around a small set of measures: completion time, correction rate, staff effort, and the quality of the client experience. Expand a successful pilot deliberately, with a named owner and a clear way to stop or revise the process when it underperforms.
A scorecard for your first AI pilot
- Time to completion. Measure the full process, including preparation, human review, corrections, and exceptions. Compare equivalent work before and during the pilot.
- Corrections. Record missing information, inaccurate output, and work that must be repeated. Note the consequences and how each issue was detected.
- Human ownership. Name the reviewer and the actions that require approval. Confirm the process for stopping the tool or returning work to a person.
- Decision to expand. Agree on success criteria before the trial. Review the evidence with the staff who do the work and the appropriate technology and compliance leads.
Your next step: Begin with an approved workflow and data your firm permits the tool to use. Run the evaluation long enough to include ordinary work and realistic exceptions. Expand because the evidence supports it, not because the demonstration was persuasive.
Connect the platform to your bigger plan.
If technology or service support is shaping your next move, explore what it means for your firm’s future.
Sources
- Charles Schwab: Charley announcement and disclosures, September 30, 2026.
- WealthAi: onboarding and KYC product announcement. Vendor capability statements; no performance claims independently tested by BKLM.