Preparing for an AI-Driven Future | 5 Tips for Compliance Professionals
July 16, 2026
On the list of things that are top of mind for compliance professionals, artificial intelligence likely ranks at or near the top for most.
“AI is driving everything that we do,” noted Valerie Ruppel of IMA Advisory Services, speaking at the Investment Adviser Association’s 2026 Investment Adviser Compliance Conference, held in Washington, D.C., in March 2026. Ruppel was moderating a session titled “AI Technology and the Future of Financial Services,” which featured panelists Al Castillo of SS&C Advent, Som Mohapatra of Hadrius, and Jason Patel of Salus GRC.
The panelists discussed how compliance teams can prepare for a rapidly changing future. They offered five practical tips:
- Get started
AI is no longer a “novelty,” argued Patel. “If you haven’t used it today, you’re probably behind,” he added, noting that the panelists had used AI to tailor the questions, thereby using “AI to talk about AI.”
And banning AI use is likely to backfire. Castillo warned that bans may lead to “shadow AI” use, as team members work around restrictions.
At the same time, Mohapatra cautioned, service providers are almost certainly using AI, given the easy access to AI tools.
In other words, summarized Mohapatra, “it’s not good to follow a prohibitive policy.”
- Borrow rather than buy or build
One of the first decisions an adviser will face once it gets started is whether to build, buy, or borrow AI technology.
For Patel, the decision is simple. “Don’t waste too much time and money trying to evaluate [it],” he argued, adding, “When you start to borrow, it allows you to move significantly faster.” He also noted that AI development is “not anywhere near any type of peak” where the technology is in a steady state. Instead, the market is changing rapidly, making buying and building much less attractive.
- Identify areas where AI can add value
As a next step, advisers will want to think about the types of functions where AI can have the greatest impact.
Mohapatra noted that AI is strongest at automating rote work.
To identify work that falls into this “execution layer,” SS&C Advent asked employees to record themselves, Castillo explained. This disciplined approach allowed the firm to identify high-volume, highly repetitive tasks that could be made much easier with AI support and to integrate AI more fully into its workflow.
Summing up AI’s sweet spot, Patel suggested that firms may want to target work normally done by a “really, really junior analyst.”
- Establish a risk governance framework
From Castillo’s experience, AI applications will be successful only if a risk governance framework is in place to oversee their use. For one thing, he noted, “When you don’t have the governance in place, there’s a hesitance at the firm.”
Getting a firm’s risk oversight ready for AI use may involve a review of its data security overall, suggested Patel. “It’s not so much the tool,” he argued. Rather, it may be the general security posture. AI adoption should prompt a review of user access and other core practices.
Mohapatra noted that service provider oversight needs to be part of risk governance. Advisers need to engage with service providers to understand their approach to issues like data retention and whether they are using publicly available tools like OpenAI. Ongoing monitoring is also important. “It’s not enough to have them sign something,” he cautioned.
Service provider selection is also critically important, noted Mohapatra. “The people building [the AI application] need to care about the subject matter of the business,” he cautioned. For compliance applications, that means knowledge of the relevant rules and regulations.
- Think about the people side
But advisers need to think about the workforce that will be using AI as much as they think about the apps themselves.
“The way you hire, the way you train, the way you manage your workforce will be significantly different,” argued Castillo. If AI is effectively a digital colleague hired to handle routine tasks, human employees will no longer be able to learn the ropes on those tasks. Advisers will need to make sure that they have training programs in place to fill the gap.
That puts even more emphasis on critical thinking, which is “becoming a key component,” suggested Ruppel.
As Patel summarized the impact of AI, “The world is completely different now,” and the pace of change will only accelerate.
