PIMFA’s AI Use Case Summit 2026
London, EC1M 5NP United Kingdom
This half-day summit brings together senior leaders from across wealth management, private-client investment management and financial planning to examine where AI is delivering measurable value, where firms remain stuck in experimentation, and what it takes to scale adoption with governance, evidence and control.
The question is no longer: what is AI?
The question now is: where does it genuinely create value and can you prove it?
Convened by PIMFA and hosted by lead sponsor of the PIMFA’s AI programme, Publicis Sapient, this half-day summit will move beyond theory, hype and product demonstrations. The focus is practical industry learning, peer comparison and implementation insight.
You will hear from firms, practitioners, subject-matter experts and sector partners on:
• the AI use cases gaining real traction across the value chain
• where AI is delivering productivity, better decisions, stronger controls and improved client outcomes
• the governance questions boards are now asking
• the commercial reality of moving from experimentation to measurable return
• what credible AI adoption looks like in a regulated wealth management environment
This is not another AI awareness session.
It is a senior, practical conversation about value, risk, accountability and scale.
The questions senior leaders now need to answer
The summit is designed to help firms answer three critical questions.
1. ROI – What measurable return are we generating from AI investment against the cost of capital and other uses of resource? Who is accountable for demonstrating that value?
2. Transformation – How is AI reshaping our operating model, workforce and client proposition? Are we building a stronger firm or automating inefficiency at the margins?
3. Governance, Risk & Compliance – Can we show regulators, clients and our board that AI use is controlled, explainable and aligned with our obligations at scale?
Why attend
Leave with clarity, not another demo
This summit is built for senior leaders who need practical answers, not abstract commentary.
You will leave with:
1. A clearer view of where AI value is real: Hear honest peer insight on which use cases are gaining traction across the front, middle and back office and which remain overhyped.
2. A benchmark against the market: Live polling will show where your firm sits against others in the room, from early exploration and isolated pilots through to embedded workflows, ROI measurement and scaling across functions.
3. Practical lessons on what good looks like: Curated case spotlights will follow a disciplined format: the business problem, the intervention, the measurable value created, and the control considerations.
4. A view of what to prioritise next: Understand what firms should focus on over the next 6–12 months, and what credible AI adoption now looks like in UK wealth management.
Who should attend
This summit is designed for senior leaders across UK wealth management, private-client investment management and financial planning who have direct responsibility for AI strategy, operational transformation, technology, governance, risk, compliance or client outcomes.
Relevant roles include:
Chief Executive Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Risk Officers, Chief Compliance Officers, Chief Data Officers, Heads of Transformation, Heads of Advice, Heads of Operations, Heads of Digital, Consumer Duty Leads, AI, data and innovation leads, Senior managers responsible for governance, assurance and implementation.
You should attend if your firm is asking how to move beyond experimentation and prove that AI deployment is controlled, evidenced and delivering measurable value.
If that is the conversation happening in your boardroom, this summit is built for you.
Request your place
Email-learning@pimfa.co.uk
Join senior peers from across wealth management to benchmark where AI is creating value, what good governance looks like, and what your board will expect next.
Places are limited and designed for senior decision-makers of FCA regulated firms. PIMFA reserves the right to decline registrations that are not aligned with the seniority and focus of the event.
08/10/2026
Arrival, coffee and networking
Welcome from PIMFA
Opening remarks from PIMFA on why AI has moved from curiosity to strategic imperative and why the next phase is about value, evidence and control.
Opening keynote - AI, risk and value creation in wealth management.
An industry perspective from Publicis Sapient on how AI is reshaping the wealth management sector, where firms are beginning to see value, and what leaders need to consider as adoption moves from experimentation to scale.
Practioners Panel 1 - Where AI is creating real traction now
A practical discussion on the AI use cases gaining traction across the front, middle and back office and where the hype is beginning to fall away.
Discussion themes:
- where firms are actually seeing early value
- which use cases are overhyped versus useful
- where productivity gains are credible
- what has improved decision-making, control or client outcomes
- where firms have struggled to move beyond experimentation
Live audience polling and benchmarking. Where is your firm really?
A short anonymous polling segment across the AI maturity curve. Participants will compare where their firm sits across areas such as:
- still exploring
- isolated pilots
- embedded in selected workflows
- measuring ROI
- scaling across functions
Networking break
Refreshments and informal discussion.
Sponsor case spotlight rotation
A curated rotation of short sponsor-led case spotlights, focused on practical implementation lessons rather than product demonstrations.
Each 10-minute spotlight will follow a fixed format:
- Problem – the business question or operational challenge
- Intervention – what was deployed and how
- Value – measurable outcomes and what was learned
- Control considerations – governance, risk and assurance points
These sessions are designed to show what practical AI adoption looks like in real operating environments.
No product walkthroughs.
No feature tours.
No sales pitches.
Practioners Panel 2 - From pilot to scale: ownership, operating model and evidence
This session examines what has to change when AI moves from experimentation into production. The panel will explore who leads, what changes, how firms prioritise investment, and what boards need to see before they support AI at scale.
Discussion themes include:
- Who owns AI?How accountability is distributed across board, C-suite and business lines, why that stalls programmes, and what good ownership looks like
- Where should firms prioritise? Which parts of the value chain offer the most credible near-term return with manageable risk
- When is a pilot ready to scale? The triggers and signals that show a firm is genuinely ready to move into production and the warning signs that it is not.
- What needs to change operationally? The data foundations, operating-model changes and change disciplines that separate meaningful progress from endless experimentation.
- What do boards need to see? How to frame ROI beyond cost reduction, and how to evidence controlled, compliant deployment.
Facilitated table discussion: What are firms prioritising next?
PIMFA-led discussion giving participants the opportunity to compare priorities, blockers and next steps with peers.
Discussion prompts include:
- which AI use case feels most immediate for your firm?
- what is the biggest blocker: data, governance, ownership, confidence or budget?
- what would your board need to see to support further investment?
- where does your firm need to build confidence before scaling?
Closing session: What senior leaders should do next
A closing conversation on what boards and senior leaders should prioritise over the next 6–12 months.
The session will consider:
- what distinguishes firms making progress from firms still circling
- what leaders should prioritise over the next 6–12 months
- what “credible AI adoption” looks like in wealth management
- where governance, ROI and organisational readiness now need to connect
Networking lunch
A final opportunity to continue the discussion with peers, speakers, sponsors and PIMFA.
Publicis Sapient
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