AI Leadership and Coaching Pathway
AI is already inside wealth and advice firms, in staff tools, adviser workflows, client servicing, supplier platforms and board conversations.
The FCA’s Mills Review confirms the direction of travel: AI will reshape retail financial services and raise sharper questions around consumer harm, trust, fraud, cyber risk, autonomy and oversight.
That is why how you learn matters as much as what you learn.
Most AI programmes explain the technology. They do not help you practise the real decisions wealth and advice leaders face around suitability, client outcomes, vendor challenge, Consumer Duty, SM&CR and assurance.
PIMFA’s AI Leadership and Coaching Pathway is different.
Built specifically for wealth and advice, it combines individual coaching, peer learning and hands-on implementation. You will learn how to govern AI, challenge suppliers, evidence capability and turn use cases into controlled, measurable value.
You leave with practical tools, a 90-day action plan and a before-and-after record that supports CPD, internal assurance and senior-manager accountability.
This pathway is designed for senior leaders and accountable managers across wealth management, financial advice and investment services.
It is particularly relevant if you are:
- An SMF or SM&CR-accountable leader who needs AI capability you can demonstrate, not just confidence you can claim.
- A head of risk or compliance building controls before problems arrive.
- A COO or operations leader looking for measurable efficiency, not AI theatre.
- An advice, investment or proposition leader bringing AI into client workflows safely.
- A founder or owner who needs a practical AI operating approach without a large change team.
- A senior manager responsible for Consumer Duty, outcomes monitoring, assurance, governance or vendor oversight.
14/10/2026
Choosing and Challenging an AI Vendor
09.30am – 11.00am | 90 minutes | Online | Wednesday 14th October 2026
AI is increasingly arriving through third-party platforms, existing suppliers and embedded AI features. The Mills Review reinforces why firms need to understand not just what a supplier is offering, but how AI is being used, where responsibility sits and what risks may be created for clients, operations and oversight. This session gives you the questions to ask before AI lands in your tech stack and why each one matters.
You will explore:
- How to identify whether a supplier is genuinely using AI, and where.
- The questions to ask before contract, renewal or implementation.
- How to challenge explainability, reliability, data usage, model oversight and human accountability.
- How to assess third-party and concentration risk where firms rely on AI, cloud or major technology providers.
- How AI supplier risk connects to Consumer Duty, operational resilience, fraud, cyber risk and SM&CR accountability.
04/11/2026
AI Governance and Risk Assurance
09.30am – 11.00am | 90 minutes | Online | Wednesday 4th November 2026
This session moves you from AI awareness to AI control.
The Mills Review points to a future where AI changes firm operations, consumer journeys, market dynamics and the risk landscape. For wealth and advice firms, that means senior leaders need a clear view of where AI is already being used, what decisions it supports, what could go wrong and how oversight is evidenced.
You will explore:
- Where AI is already being used inside your firm, formally and informally.
- How to classify AI use cases by risk, value, autonomy, client impact and regulatory sensitivity.
- How to apply a Consumer Duty lens to AI adoption, including foreseeable harm, consumer understanding and vulnerable customers.
- What should appear in your AI use-case register.
- How to build assurance that is practical, proportionate and board-ready.
- How to evidence appropriate governance, escalation and senior-manager oversight.
18/11/2026
AI Strategy and Implementation
09.30am – 11.30am | In person | Hands-on | Wednesday 18th November 2026
This session turns AI from an interesting tool into a controlled business capability.
You will work through a wealth or advice scenario, build a simple AI agent, test value and risk, draft a business case and create a 30-60-90-day roadmap.
The focus is controlled implementation: choosing the right use case, understanding the human workflow around it, testing the risk, and knowing where AI should and should not be allowed to act.
You will explore:
- How to select AI use cases that solve real business problems.
- How to build a simple AI agent against a wealth or advice scenario.
- How to test value, risk, operational impact, client impact and control points.
- How to decide what remains human-led, what can be AI-supported and what should not be automated.
- How to move from pilot to controlled implementation.
- How to create a 90-day plan you can act on immediately.
Richard Preece
Gary Abela
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