Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly powerful, but many people are not taking full advantage of what it can do.
Instead of treating AI like an improved search engine or a tool for completing individual tasks, financial advisors should learn to collaborate with it more effectively.
At Schwab IMPACT 2026 in Boston, Jeremy Utley, an executive educator at Stanford and Harvard, shared a different way to think about AI. During his breakout session, “More Chat, Less Bot: How Humans Unleash the True Power of AI in Innovation,” he challenged attendees to rethink how they interact with the technology.
Mike Byrnes, owner of Byrnes Consulting, LLC, attended the presentation and covered Utley’s insights in his latest Rethinking65 article, “Stop ‘Using’ AI Wrong.”
Here are eight key takeaways:
- Treat AI like a teammate, not just a tool. People who get the most value from AI approach it as a collaborative partner. Rather than simply asking questions and accepting the first answer, engage in a conversation that explores possibilities and improves ideas.
- Talk to AI instead of always typing. Voice conversations can make interacting with AI faster and more natural. Utley encouraged attendees to use their phones to talk through professional or personal challenges with their preferred AI platform.
- Provide context about your challenges. AI can offer more relevant recommendations when it understands the background of a situation. Sharing details about a problem helps the technology move beyond generic responses.
- Ask AI to assume the role of an expert. Rather than asking a broad question, tell AI to approach the challenge as an expert in a particular subject. This can help narrow its focus and produce more useful recommendations.
- Let AI ask questions before providing advice. AI can help better if it asks questions before offering solutions. This encourages a more thoughtful exchange and helps ensure recommendations are based on relevant information.
- Don’t settle for the first answer. AI can quickly produce reasonably good responses, but that does not mean they are the best possible answers. Challenge assumptions, ask follow-up questions and explore different approaches to get better results.
- Make AI collaboration part of everyone’s job. AI proficiency should extend across an organization, including marketing, HR, finance, legal and other departments. Every employee should have opportunities to discover how AI can improve their work.
- Think beyond productivity to innovation. AI should not just help people complete existing tasks faster. When used as a collaborative partner, it can help people think more creatively, develop new capabilities and accomplish things they might not have considered possible.
People often settle for good enough when using technology. However, the biggest opportunities come when they push beyond basic interactions and learn to collaborate with AI.
Learning how to work with AI differently could help advisors improve decision-making, develop better ideas, strengthen client service and become more effective business owners.
Are You Getting the Most Out of AI?
AI is creating significant opportunities for financial advisors, but realizing those benefits requires more than experimenting with new technology. It takes the right mindset, business strategy, employee engagement and integration into everyday workflows.
Byrnes Consulting helps financial services firms develop strategies to become even more successful. Mike Byrnes is also available for keynotes, breakout sessions and workshops on AI, business strategy and organic growth.
Contact Byrnes Consulting to discuss how Mike can help your organization.
Want to read Mike’s other posts from IMPACT…
- AI Is Moving Beyond Experimentation
- How to Get Found Online by Prospects Using AI
- AI Is Creating New Compliance Risks for Advisors (Still to be published)
Mike’s front-row video of the Zac Brown Band.
Plus, see pictures from the conference.
