Originally published on We Wealth Magazine.

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Artificial intelligence has now entered the core of investment processes, but the revolution is only just beginning. This is the starting point of the reflection by Federico Invernizzi, Chief Operating Officer and Board Member of MDOTM, a pioneer in developing AI-based solutions for portfolio management, speaking at The Wealth Management Summit by We Wealth.

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A clear-headed analysis that separates enthusiasm from operational reality, looking ahead to the future of wealth management. According to research conducted by EY in collaboration with MDOTM, only 5% of investment managers consider themselves truly advanced in adopting AI. This figure highlights the gap between excessive enthusiasm for the technology and its concrete application in investment processes.

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Today everyone feels compelled to do something with artificial intelligence—often too much. But there is still a lack of strategic thinking at the core. AI is an enabling, interactive, and revolutionary technology, but it requires clear guidance on how to use it and which business priorities it should serve.

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In recent years, the financial sector has seen an explosion of experimentation: pilot projects, proofs of concept, and tests on machine learning and generative AI models. However, few of these have translated into truly operational tools.

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Many companies today are working on ten or fifteen AI pilot projects, but in six months perhaps only one will take shape. I believe the frustration among industry players stems from this ‘overdoing’ and the lack of real strategic thinking behind these projects.

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he adds. MDOTM works with private banks, wealth managers, and asset managers across the United States and Europe. Its goal is to make portfolio personalization scalable by combining technological efficiency with the human sensitivity of advisory.

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The number of actively managed portfolios worldwide is growing exponentially. Compared to thirty years ago, today each investor corresponds to an active portfolio, however small, and personalized. Meanwhile, fees are decreasing and the complexity of client needs is increasing. This is where technology can make the difference.

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The company has developed an AI platform called Sphere, capable of automatically rebalancing thousands of distinct portfolios based on centralized inputs, while preserving the characteristics and preferences of each client and banker. And when it comes to personalization at scale, one cannot overlook StoryFolio, a module of the Sphere platform that uses generative AI to create a tailored narrative for each client. StoryFolio connects the chief investment officer’s view with actual portfolio data and the individual client’s perspective, generating content such as reports and portfolio commentary that are coherent and readable in natural language.
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Generative AI makes it possible to speak the human language, and we have worked to control it, avoiding the risks of hallucinations or fabrications typical of unsupervised models. In a highly regulated sector dealing with people’s money and savings, errors are not allowed.

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The platform does not replace the advisor but supports them in client relationships, offering personalized insights and content in a transparent and compliant way, aligned with the bank’s guidelines. Looking ahead, the industry appears to be moving beyond an experimental phase toward so-called enterprise adoption. According to Invernizzi, in the coming years we will see the integration of various AI components—both generative and non-generative—into investment processes, with the goal of making wealth management even more personalized and accessible at scale.

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We are now moving beyond the cycle of empty experimentation and entering what I call phase two of AI—the phase of real impact.

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A “phase two” that promises to redefine how technology and human intelligence work together to create value in the world of wealth advisory.