A survey of 100 students pursuing careers in financial services, conducted by the FinServ Foundation in partnership with FP Transitions, reveals a nuanced stance on artificial intelligence: they are not technophobes, but they worry their future employers will use AI to eliminate the very roles that teach them the trade.
According to the survey, 64% of respondents cited over-reliance on automation and loss of human interaction as their top concern about AI's long-term impact on wealth management. Other worries included accuracy of AI outputs (63%), data privacy risks (57%), ethical implications (52%), and job displacement (47%). These findings come amid broader campus unrest; at Stanford University's June 14 commencement, up to 200 students walked out as Google CEO Sundar Pichai spoke, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt faced boos at the University of Arizona weeks earlier after discussing AI's inevitability in the workplace.
The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with PwC, released a report this week identifying financial services as one of the sectors with the highest AI exposure at the entry level globally. The report cites a 16% decline in entry-level jobs in AI-exposed fields in the U.S. since late 2022, when OpenAI launched ChatGPT. Notably, the decline began nearly a year before ChatGPT's release, indicating structural pressure predated the current AI boom. Additionally, 75% of senior leaders in financial services expect significant AI-related structural realignment at the junior level—nearly double the rate for mid- or senior-level roles.
Elise Rogers, vice president of marketing at FP Transitions, explained the student perspective: "Where they're really concerned is that AI could replace those entry-level roles—automating those things that young advisors could be in the room, in the meeting taking notes and passively learning these skills. How do we still retain that education journey?"
The stakes are high because the advisory profession is already running a talent deficit. Jamie Hopkins, president of the FinServ Foundation and managing director at Bryn Mawr Trust, noted that the industry logged a net loss of approximately 4,000 advisors in 2025. "We had a net advisor loss of 4,000 advisors in 2025 and we have this aging advisory ownership workforce—most of the books of business are 60, late 50s advisors with not a lot of young talent on their teams today," Hopkins said. "We actually still need more coming in the front door."
According to the WEF, using AI to eliminate entry-level volume rather than redesign entry-level roles risks hollowing out organizational capability-building over a decade or more. Hopkins observed that many firms are moving toward a diamond-shaped team model: fewer entry-level workers, a wider band of experienced mid-level staff, and a narrowing at the senior tier. While this may boost short-term efficiency, he warned of long-term risks: "If every company moves to a diamond-shaped workforce, eventually they all burn down because you don't have enough entry-level spots." He added, "I do worry about the ability to train people on the base level components of advice if we start automating it—because when you do that, people don't know how to fix things when things break. Not year one, not year two, but five or seven years into this."
Despite these concerns, the students are not anti-tech. Nearly 40% said evolving technology makes financial planning a more appealing career. Respondents reported using AI for approximately five hours per week on average, with fewer than 9% using it for an hour or less. About 73% rated AI adoption by prospective employers as moderately to extremely important, and they placed similar weight on employers providing structured training on AI tools. However, Hopkins flagged a shift in sentiment: "They're not as high on it as companies were expecting them to be two years ago. The fact it's not their top priority—it might be worse next year than it is this year, because that's really shifted very quickly."
The survey found that roughly one in five respondents remain uncertain about how emerging technologies will reshape their early careers. The WEF report noted that 28% of entry-level workers globally believe half or fewer of their current skills will still be relevant within three years. To reassure the next generation, the FinServ survey report called on firms to clearly communicate that technology enhances advisor capabilities rather than replacing them. "Firms that clearly communicate how technology enhances advisor capabilities will be better positioned to attract next-generation talent," the report stated. For advisors and firms, the message is clear: pattern recognition and human judgment remain valuable, but the path to developing those skills may be narrowing. Meanwhile, RIAs emphasizing self-governance may find themselves better positioned to attract young talent by offering hands-on training.
