As concerns persist about AI-driven job losses, two major firms are betting that artificial intelligence can enhance, rather than replace, human expertise.
Last week, Rockefeller Capital Management and Janus Henderson separately announced plans to bring robust AI tools into their firms, including services from Anthropic, maker of the Claude family of large language models. Absent from both announcements was any indication that financial advisors might face widespread job cuts along the way.
So far, few signs of advisor displacement
In January, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei made headlines after
His prediction came as
"Everybody is focused on AI and what that's going to do to employment. If you look at the data so far — we only have through 2025 — but aggregate employment has gone up," said Karen Barr, president and CEO of the Investment Adviser Association in an interview. "That doesn't mean it hasn't affected the kind of positions they're hiring for. Anecdotally, we are hearing it has affected the areas in which firms are hiring. But it hasn't affected aggregate employment."
READ MORE:
"This is aggregate, so it's net," Barr said. "People might be laid off, but maybe they're hiring the same amount of people just for AI roles. They're hiring AI experts."
That doesn't mean AI won't alter hiring patterns or eliminate some roles. But so far advisors have, for the most part, been finding a middle ground, one that has them teaming up with AI on the job rather than competing against it.
This pivot from AI as job taker to job helper is borne out by advisor attitudes. This past spring, wealthtech platform Advisor360º surveyed 300 financial advisors about their attitudes toward technology on the job, reporting that while 8% worried their jobs were at risk because of AI, 90% weren't. The majority expressed greater interest in using AI to assist with tasks such as tax planning or retirement income planning.
For asset management firm Janus Henderson, AI is not primarily a cost-savings exercise. Rather than focusing on productivity gains or expense reduction — factors it believes are less important to clients — the company is "focused on delivering enhanced investment performance and client service," CEO Ali Dibadj said in an email, "things that clients actually want from their asset manager partners, which will allow us to grow."
Combining human judgment and AI
In its announcement, Janus Henderson revealed plans to work with Anthropic and AI start-up Percepta to develop research and client engagement tools. The systems will support outreach, third-party data assessments and personalized client communications, alongside investment research.
Janus Henderson also plans to deploy Claude by providing Claude Code to engineering teams and Cowork to employees, "bringing AI further into everyday work," according to a press release.
"We believe human plus AI is better than AI alone or human alone," Dibadj said in an email. "Our humans will be the ultimate decision-makers, and they will make even better decisions with the help of AI."
READ MORE:
Rockefeller said it, too, plans to combine human expertise with AI capacity. "The AI capabilities will be integrated directly into Rockefeller's advisory workflows," the firm said in a press release, "with a focus on extending the depth of insight available to advisors as they serve clients."
Claude will also be part of the integration at Rockefeller, the firm shared, as part of an initiative to create a wealth management platform.
Remaining cautious and optimistic
Additionally, both firms said they would implement the new systems cautiously and with the appropriate governance controls.
"Rockefeller was built on the idea that trust and judgment sit at the center of the client relationship," said CEO Gregory Fleming in the release. "As technology evolves, our objective is not to replace that foundation, but to strengthen it."
Janus Henderson also emphasized stability and compliance that relies on human judgment as it rolls out new AI capabilities. "We have very strict AI governance, as our technology team is ensuring the right data, security, and AI governance foundations are in place," wrote Dibadj. "Ultimately, our people will make the decisions."
For now, the message from both firms is clear: AI is a tool to augment advisors, not replace them.
With additional reporting from Dan Shaw.
