How New Financial Planners Can Stand Out in the Age of AI

If you’re entering financial planning right now, you’re stepping into a profession that’s transforming in real time. AI is reshaping everything from a firm’s workflows and client expectations to the hiring process and even marketing. You’re not alone if you’ve felt the pressure to “outperform” AI or prove that a human still belongs at the table.

But here’s the truth: AI isn’t replacing planners. It’s reshaping what clients need from you and what firms expect from you. The planners who thrive over the next 3-5 years will be the ones who understand how to blend human connection with AI-enabled efficiency, not those who try to race technology.

This blog breaks down two essential parts of standing out in the age of AI: 

1. How to stand out to clients 
2. How to stand out to hiring firms  

The strategies look different, but the theme is the same: your humanity is your advantage!

Part 1: How to Stand Out to Clients in the Age of AI

Intuit polled over a thousand Millennials and Gen-Zers, and 80% of them said they use AI for financial questions. While these younger generations are leading the charge, we do not doubt that many clients today use AI before they ever talk to a financial planner. 

They’ll pull up a ChatGPT-generated retirement plan, ask for a savings strategy, or plug their numbers into a robo-advisor. Not because they distrust professionals, but because AI is fast, convenient, and low-pressure.

Clients tend to rely on AI because it gives them quick answers, a sense of clarity, and the feeling that they’re making progress without committing to anything. But while AI can produce impressive charts and neat summaries, it cannot understand the context behind someone’s life or navigate the messy reality of competing priorities, emotions, or values.

This is where new planners stand out.

Clients might bring AI recommendations into meetings, but they’re looking for someone who can interpret what those recommendations actually mean for their unique situation. They need someone who can see what’s missing from the data — the emotional undercurrents, the trade-offs, the realistic timelines, the fears they didn’t type (or didn’t know how to express) into ChatGPT. AI can’t respond compassionately to a client’s anxiety about job stability or guide couples through conflicting goals. It can’t ask clarifying questions, redirect a conversation, or help a client prioritize the next best step.

What sets you apart is your ability to translate complexity into clarity, explain the “why” behind decision-making, and help people navigate uncertainty with confidence. Instead of trying to be faster or more precise than AI, aim to be more human than AI. 

The planner who listens well, adapts in real time, and connects planning recommendations to someone’s lived experience will always be more valuable than a tool that generates generic solutions.

If you want to build these skills, the kind AI can’t teach, Amplified Planning CORE gives you a front-row seat to real client interactions so you can understand how communication, judgment, and adaptability actually show up in practice. Each month, we also have live learning and group coaching sessions that dive deep into a topic that can help you serve clients better and grow your firm. 

Part 2: How to Stand Out to Firms Using AI in Their Hiring Process

AI isn’t just reshaping how clients engage with planning. It’s also transforming how firms evaluate talent. Many RIAs, even (and especially!) small ones, have moved to applicant tracking systems that use AI to scan resumes for keywords, licenses, job titles, and specific experience. That means that a great candidate can get filtered out before a human ever sees their application.

To get through these systems when applying for financial planning jobs, you need a resume that speaks the same language as the job description. Firms are teaching AI to look for certain patterns, so your materials need to reflect them: clearly written credentials, unambiguous experience descriptions, relevant terminology, and a format that an algorithm can read. Overly designed templates, vague phrasing, and relying solely on acronyms can all get you screened out.

But standing out goes beyond clearing the AI filter. The firms you want to work for are increasingly looking for planners who understand how technology is changing financial planning and who are ready to work alongside it, not against it. One of the strongest signals you can send during an interview is demonstrating curiosity about how the firm uses AI and how you can contribute to that environment.

Thoughtful questions like, “Where does AI support your planning workflow?” or “What parts of your process do you want AI to make more efficient?” show that you’re thinking about the profession’s future, not just the job in front of you. If you’ve already experimented with AI tools, whether for client-note summarization, research, or draft planning prep, that experience becomes an asset instead of a threat.

Firms want new hires who can learn quickly, collaborate with technology, and make the team more effective. Not someone who tries to “outsmart” the system, but someone who understands how to integrate it responsibly.

Hiring firms are also looking for candidates who can showcase how their other experience will make them good with clients. You can have all the technological knowledge in the world and still not know how to serve a client well. For every item in your Experience section of your resume, highlight how this makes you a good team player, client-focused, and willing to learn. 

If you want hands-on exposure to real client meetings, the “human side” of financial planning, and experience that firms are looking for, join Amplified Planning CORE. Our monthly subscription gives you the structure and insight to build the skills you need before you head into the interview.

The Bottom Line: View AI as a Skill Shift, Not a Threat

AI is changing financial planning, but it’s not replacing the heart of the work: helping people make thoughtful decisions about their lives. Technology will automate parts of the process, but it cannot replace curiosity, empathy, professional judgment, or the ability to guide clients through uncertainty.

The new planners who stand out are the ones who learn how to:

• use AI without outsourcing their thinking,
• pair data with discernment, and
• bring a deeply human touch to a world that increasingly values efficiency over connection.

If you want to build the skills that the next generation of financial planning demands, join us inside CORE. You’ll see real client meetings, build real-world judgment, and learn how to become the kind of planner technology can’t replace, because the profession needs you, not a robot version of you.