New semi-annual benchmark will track how RIAs, broker-dealers and their teams are adopting AI with every verified respondent entered to win an all-expenses-paid trip to a Future Proof event.
BOSTON, June 24, 2026 – Future Proof, the wealth management industry’s largest community and event platform, today announced the launch of Future Proof Research, a new data and intelligence arm dedicated to tracking the forces reshaping the business of financial advice. Its first initiative: The State of AI in Wealth Management, which will be co-commissioned with Impruve, selected on the merit of their pioneering role in the emerging category of AI Stewardship for wealth management, opens for responses today, and will become a semi-annual benchmark for how wealth firms and the professionals inside them adopt, govern, deploy, and profit from artificial intelligence.
AI is moving through wealth management faster than any technology shift before it, yet most firms are navigating it without a clear picture of where they stand against their peers. Future Proof Research was built to close that gap with rigorous, repeatable data rather than headlines and hype. The inaugural findings will debut live on the main stage at the 2026 Future Proof Festival, September 14–17 in Huntington Beach, California, with a new edition released alongside each flagship Future Proof event going forward.
“The wealth management industry is being reshaped by AI faster than anything we’ve seen and right now, every firm is trying to figure out where they actually stand,” said Matt Middleton, Founder and CEO of Future Proof. “Future Proof Research exists to answer that with data, not noise. The State of AI in Wealth Management research will be the benchmark the industry measures itself against, edition after edition and like everything we do, it’s the industry telling its own story.”
The research is designed around two lenses at once. The Firm Lens measures where firms are on their AI journey: strategy, spend, governance, and outcomes, and powers a proprietary AI Maturity Index. The Individual Lens measures how professionals in every role and function are adopting AI and who is driving the change, powering a companion AI Champion Index. Together they let a leader open the report and answer two questions: “Where do firms like mine stand?” and “Where do people in my role stand?”
What separates the study from typical industry surveys is how it qualifies who counts. Participation is limited to professionals at wealth management firms – RIAs, broker-dealers, and bank and trust wealth units – and every response is verified against firm and individual records on file with FINRA and the SEC. Asset managers, fintech and wealthtech vendors, and other outside firms are excluded by design, so the data reflects the industry talking to itself, not a popularity contest.
Independent by design
The research is co-commissioned with Impruve to support its development. Future Proof Research retains full and sole editorial control over the survey design, methodology, analysis, and findings. Consistent with Future Proof’s long-standing approach to its event content, the research is strictly no-pay-to-play: no sponsor, including Impruve, can buy a question, a result, or a ranking, and every edition will publish its full methodology.
“Every advisory firm we talk to is asking the same question: where is the actual leverage in AI being realized, and how do we stack up against our peers?” said Mike Shannon, Co-Founder and CEO of Impruve. “We’re proud to help bring this research to life so the whole industry can see the real picture and we’ve deliberately built it so the findings stand entirely on their own.”
Take the survey
The inaugural survey is open now and takes less than 10 minutes to complete. To recognize the professionals who contribute, every verified respondent will be automatically entered for the chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip (valued up to $5,000) to a Future Proof event in 2026 or 2027, for the winner and a guest of their choice, whether a spouse or a colleague.
Responses must be submitted and verified by August 21 to qualify. The qualified-respondent winner will be selected in a random drawing on or about August 28.
About Future Proof Research
Future Proof Research is the data and intelligence arm of Future Proof, producing independent, longitudinal research on the forces reshaping wealth management. Its inaugural initiative, The State of AI in Wealth Management, is a semi-annual benchmark of AI adoption across the advice industry, released alongside each flagship Future Proof event. Learn more here.
About Future Proof
Launched in 2021, Future Proof has quickly become the world’s largest event brand dedicated to the modernization and advancement of the wealth and investment management industry. Future Proof organizes a variety of events throughout the calendar year, all of which leverage cutting edge event technology to connect investors, financial advisors, fund managers, tech companies and financial services firms, helping them efficiently raise and allocate assets as well as make informed technology buying decisions.
An award-winning events company with event Net Promoter Scores consistently exceeding 70 and meetings satisfaction rates greater than 95%, Future Proof has pioneered many groundbreaking formats for the wealth and investment management industry, ranging from facilitated one-to-one meetings, peer group networking and hosted buyer programs to outdoor-centric festivals, city-wide events and curated retreats.
For more information, visit FutureProofHQ.com or follow Future Proof on X, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
About Impruve
Impruve is an AI Steward for wealth management firms: an external, independent partner that guides, governs, and operationalizes a firm’s AI strategy. An AI Steward is neither a vendor nor a consultant. It does not sell a platform, and it does not deliver a strategy and exit. It is an emerging category Impruve has pioneered, built on four commitments: forward-deployed engineering that builds and maintains custom agentic workflows alongside the firm; vendor neutrality, with no financial ties to any technology provider; a deep, long-term partnership embedded in the firm’s governance and infrastructure; and ongoing education that builds the firm’s own AI fluency. The result is a white-glove engagement calibrated to each firm’s complexity, culture, and operating environment.
For more information, visit Impruve.com.
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