Insights

The arrival of capable AI systems in financial services has triggered a predictable reflex: build the business case around headcount reduction. It is a reflex worth resisting, not because efficiency doesn't matter, but because it optimises for the wrong thing at exactly the wrong moment. Investment management firms that treat AI primarily as a cost lever will achieve a one-time margin improvement that competitors can quickly replicate. Firms that treat AI as a thinking multip

Gen AI features in many conversations I have these days, whether in formal meetings or social settings. The questions are rarely technical. They tend to focus on how organisations are using it, when they should, and what makes the difference between activity and advantage. One observation helps explain why activity so often fails to translate into advantage: Gen AI never says “I don’t know”. That is not a flaw. It is a design feature. Understanding what this characteristic en