AI-powered next best actions for wealth

Since the author proposed the idea of ‘contextual behaviour-driven strategy’ in 2020,1 we have witnessed a fundamental shift in people’s behaviours. Transformative models in wealth across interactive relationship, digital engagement and artificial intelligence (AI)-automated servicing have been widely adopted by clients. AI applications, especially next best actions (NBAs) based on contextual data prediction, are offering great value to our clients and attracting adoption. Yet for financial professionals, new tools, operating models and support culture are lagging. There is tremendous need to empower them to conduct more complicated collaborations and workflows seamlessly and holistically from relationship management, planning to advisory, servicing. Furthermore, the scale of business is growing. We project a huge volume of wealth transfer in the upcoming two decades to entertain and a next generation of clients to delight. AI plays a critical role to empower. In the recent development of the AI field, predictions based on past patterns and personalisation based on trained-engine business rules are broadly accurate; however, making judgments for an uncertain future is an area where AI has not yet delivered. We can strive to forecast decision variables and overlay additional dimensions to the NBA models to complement advisers’ and bankers’ intuition and expertise, and ultimately cultivate the culture and sales support to make more relevant and appropriate judgments, prioritisation and recommendations to their clients.