Welcome back to another round of AI & Finance headlines—this time, we’re taking a double-dip since we skipped last week due to the holiday, and there’s a lot to get to. 
Before jumping into the headlines, however, I’d like to assure you that this introduction is written by a human being.
You see, it’s getting harder and harder to discern between the work of artificial intelligence and the work of a human being. AI is becoming skilled enough to trick our species’ bullshit meter—an informal Turing test of a sort.
Maybe we should write something about the Turing test and whether an AI has actually passed it or not—we’ll hold that thought.
All this musing was brought on by a recent report from French security provider Thales, noting that automated internet traffic has surpassed human web traffic for the first time in a decade—and the bots responsible for much of this traffic are powered by AI. Oh, and at least some of these bots are deployed with malicious intent.
Bots have been responsible for a big chunk of internet traffic for a long time, but crossing the 50% threshold means that web traffic, and most of the indicators of web traffic, like hits or pageviews, are stripped from whatever meaning they had left. Keep in mind that these metrics were already easy to manipulate—publications dependent on performance indicators for digital ad sales have been massaging numbers for years, rendering measures like clicks and pageviews unreliable at best.
The recent surge of bot activity, however, is kind of like the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Publishers on the web have no guaranteed way of discerning bot activity from organic activity—they can’t assure their advertisers that they’re really capable of delivering the products they’re selling: eyes on a promotion.
It’s the same bind we’re all now in when we read a bit of journalism or literature, or view digital art, or a new piece of music—there’s no longer any way to be certain that a human being actually made that, and that what we’re experiencing isn’t a product of artificial intelligence.
Of course, there are already some who posit that everything we’ve experienced, as a species, is part of a grand simulation, and there isn’t really any way for us to know if they’re right or wrong, either.
But again, I can assure you, a person did write this.
Let’s get to your headlines.
1. Blend
Blend today announced the formation of its Financial Services Advisory Board, a consortium of industry visionaries who will collectively help to define the future of AI transformation and accelerate adoption in financial services.
This initiative brings together experts from wealth management, asset management, retirement services, banking, cards, networks, processors – all sectors undergoing profound change driven by artificial intelligence.
The Board will reinforce and enhance Blend’s mandate for the sector, focusing on four strategic imperatives: articulating compelling visions for AI in the future financial landscape, developing breakthrough perspectives on AI transformation, influencing market narratives, and creating a powerful innovation ecosystem at the intersection of financial services and cutting-edge AI.
2. Boosted.ai
Boosted.ai, developers of the leading agentic AI for investment professionals – Boosted.ai Alfa™ – today announced it has appointed Christian Antaloczy as Chief Product Officer (CPO).
Antaloczy joins the Boosted.ai team from WhatsApp (parent company Meta) where he led generative AI for businesses, bringing deep expertise in product strategy, AI-driven innovation, and scaling solutions across organizations of all sizes in a highly regulated space. With a proven track record of building and launching industry-defining products, he has successfully bridged technology and business needs to help users derive value from technology like artificial intelligence.
As CPO of Boosted.ai, Antaloczy will leverage his expertise in generative AI and in bringing new services to market to extend our lead in the financial AI space, while expanding into more use cases as they see an increased demand for AI that automates large swaths of an investment professional’s day.
3. Boosted.ai
Boosted.ai, the leader in agentic AI for institutional investment, has partnered with the Global Equities team at Liontrust, the specialist active investment manager, to integrate advanced artificial intelligence (AI) into its portfolio management and research workflows.
This collaboration highlights the growing adoption of AI in asset management as companies seek to enhance efficiency, risk control, and investment insights through cutting-edge technology.
4. Cambridge Investment Research
Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. (“Cambridge”), a leading independent financial solutions firm serving 3,800 advisors nationwide, announced today the promotion of several associates in key departments across the firm. These promotions are designed to enhance operational excellence and strengthen the firm’s ability to support advisors.
Erica Molina has been promoted to Vice President, Product Management. In this role, she will lead the Product Management Team and oversee all aspects of the firm’s product lifecycle, ensuring solutions align with the continuously evolving needs of advisors and associates.
Since joining Cambridge in 2024, Molina has been instrumental in the firm’s adoption and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI). Her work with third-party vendors — including Zocks and Jump — led to the successful rollout of multiple AI-powered solutions for advisors and associates. Molina graduated from Arizona State University with an MBA and Bachelor of Arts in Communication. She is a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP), Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC), Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU), Registered Corporate Coach™ (RCC™), and holds the Series 7, 9, 10, 24, and 66 licenses.
5. Datalign Advisory
Datalign Advisory, an AI-powered company connecting Americans with trusted financial advisors, has appointed Andy Berkheimer as Chief Technology Officer. In this role, the senior engineering executive will lead Datalign’s growing engineering team and advance its generative AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities to meet surging demand for personalized and trusted financial guidance.
Across his 25-year career, Berkheimer has led teams building consumer and enterprise facing platforms that transformed how billions of people engage with technology. In his decade-plus tenure at YouTube, he guided the platform through three critical phases: scaling high-quality video delivery to billions of users, leading the transition to mobile and smart TVs, and the ensuing transformation into a highly personalized destination during a period of tremendous growth. Most recently at Meta’s Reality Labs, he applied this same expertise in the frontier of technology innovation to next-generation enterprise collaboration tools.
Datalign recently secured a $9 million investment following 300% year-over-year growth. In 2024, the company matched $40 billion in assets with over 7,000 trusted advisors. To help lead its next phase of growth, Datalign has brought on Berkheimer, an MIT graduate returning to his Cambridge roots.
6. DebtBook
DebtBook, a leading provider of cloud-based software for government and nonprofit treasury and accounting teams, today announced the launch of its AI Contract Processing feature, designed to streamline the lease and subscription contract entry process within its Lease Management and Subscription Management solutions. By leveraging artificial intelligence, DebtBook aims to simplify and accelerate compliance with GASB 87 and GASB 96 standards, saving valuable time and resources for government and nonprofit organizations.
With AI Contract Processing, users can upload their lease or subscription contracts directly into DebtBook, where the AI tool scans the document, extracts key data points, and provides suggested inputs. This approach allows teams to quickly review and approve suggestions, drastically reducing the amount of time spent on manual data entry.
DebtBook continues to innovate across its suite of products to support the needs of government and nonprofit finance professionals. By embedding AI tools like AI Contract Processing into its applications, DebtBook empowers teams to achieve greater efficiency and accuracy in their compliance workflows.
7. Gradient AI
Gradient AI, a leading enterprise software provider of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in the insurance industry, today announced the release of its enhanced Workers’ Compensation Underwriting Risk Score Solution. The new version delivers advances in risk scoring accuracy, regulatory compliance, and implementation speed.
The release also provides an industry leading, risk-segmenting workers’ compensation AI model. Gradient AI designed, trained, and validated its workers’ compensation AI model to ensure fairness using a methodology aligned with evolving regulatory standards, including guidance from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and various state AI circulars.
Gradient AI’s solution outperforms traditional and consortium-based models by combining job-specific risk scoring, proprietary claims data from more than 200 carriers and MGAs, and a regulatory compliant model – features absent in legacy approaches.
8. GReminders
GReminders, a leading end-to-end meeting and automation management platform for financial advisors, today announced a series of new integrations with top customer relationship management (CRM) providers serving the financial advisor industry. New integrations with XLR8, Quivr, Smart Office, Envestnet Tamarac, and SS&C Salentica will empower advisors to manage their calendars and meetings, apply client-level data and intelligence and automate next-best-actions, all seamlessly within the CRM systems they are accustomed to using. The new integrations will meet the increasing demand of advisors seeking compliance-friendly solutions to streamline everyday operations within their existing systems.
By integrating GReminders AI-enabled technology, the advisor-focused CRMs benefit from enriched calendar data to seamlessly automate client emails and SMS notifications. Additional enhancements include the ability to book meetings via the GReminders enterprise-grade scheduling system, generating pre-meeting briefs based on existing CRM notes and logging post-meeting summaries and tasks back in the CRM. Numerous automations are added via the integrations, including launching opportunities and workflows after booking a meeting.
GReminders is currently listed first among “Schedule Applications” in Ezra Group’s WealthTech Integration Score ranking, with a near-perfect score of 9.30 of a possible 10. These industry-wide rankings are based on an evaluation of the “robustness of an application’s external integrations.” The GReminders score reflects the breadth, depth and quality of its integrations with advisor-focused CRMs as well as its advanced capabilities. This includes the recently launched “Ask Anything” assistant feature, a next-generation natural language interface that allows advisors to seamlessly interact with their calendars, CRMs and wealth planning tools, using simple, everyday language. The feature eliminates the need to navigate between multiple software solutions to get answers about a client and subsequently initiate tasks.
9. Guidewire
Guidewire (NYSE: GWRE) announced that its industry-leading PartnerConnect ecosystem partners have now earned more than 250 specializations, highlighting the extensive depth and breadth of experience among Guidewire Consulting partners. It also unveiled two new Digital specializations to ensure that partners are equipped with the unique technical know-how to address the evolving needs of its customers.
New Technology partners, Guidewire Marketplace updates, and several specialization achievements in its PartnerConnect ecosystem were also announced.
Guidewire has introduced two new Digital specializations: Jutro Digital Platform (Jutro) and EnterpriseEngage. To achieve specializations, Consulting partners are required to demonstrate skills, knowledge, and competency in a specific Guidewire product or solution, as validated by Guidewire certification achievements and relevant customer references.
10. Guidewire
Guidewire today announced a $60 million investment over the next five years to expand its operations in Japan and accelerate the delivery of capabilities tailored to the unique needs of Japanese insurers. This investment will enhance Guidewire’s platform, empowering Japanese insurers to drive profitable growth, increase business and IT agility, ensure regulatory compliance, and support the growth of the company’s local team and ecosystem to meet rising demand for cloud-based core systems.
The investment builds on Guidewire’s momentum in Japan. Operating in Japan since 2008, Guidewire is trusted by more than 10 Japanese insurance companies, including Tier 1 insurers. Today, more than 60% of Japan’s insurance gross written premium (GWP) is processed through Guidewire ClaimCenter, underscoring the company’s market leadership and deep alignment with customer needs.
Guidewire also announced enhancements to its PolicyCenter and BillingCenter products to better support Japanese insurers. Key new features include policy change reversals, proration, and effective time, along with localized support for Japanese language, documentation, and training. Additional capabilities tailored to the Japanese market are underway, including pre-built integrations for personal auto (available mid-2026) and expanded features for homeowner, earthquake, and commercial group policies planned for 2027.
11. PreciseFP
PreciseFP, the award-winning client engagement and data-gathering software from Docupace, today announced a new integration with Finmate.ai, a rising innovator in AI-assisted notetaking for financial advisors, today announced a new integration engagement that allows financial advisors to effortlessly go from a discovery conversation to a generated financial plan.
FinMate AI was the first to create an advisor-focused AI notetaker, and FinMate AI is again the first to push the industry forward by allowing advisors to push financial data from a conversation to their planning software.
The first-of-its-kind integration allows financial advisors to pass client data from Finmate.ai’s platform through PreciseFP and directly into core financial planning applications such as eMoney, RightCapital and Envestnet’s MoneyGuidePro.
12. Socure
Socure, the leading AI-driven platform for digital identity verification, fraud prevention, and sanctions screening, today proudly announced the appointment of Rivka Gewirtz Little as Chief Growth Officer. Little assumes this position after four transformative years as Chief of Staff to CEO Johnny Ayers, where she played a pivotal role in architecting Socure’s strategy, operations, and market expansion.
Under her leadership and alongside a world-class team, Socure has doubled verification volumes to 2.7 billion in 2024—spanning 370 million unique identities across financial services, fintech, government, telecom, e-commerce, insurance, gaming, and marketplaces—and now operates in over 190 countries worldwide.
Little brings to this role more than 15 years of deep expertise in fraud, identity, and payments, including executive positions at Goldman Sachs, NICE Actimize, and IDC, where she led multiple business units and shaped global fraud strategies. Prior to her role as Chief of Staff to the CEO, she served as SVP of Market & Strategy at Socure and earlier led Global Fraud Strategy at Goldman Sachs.
13. TIFIN
TIFIN AG, a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) and growth science solutions for the wealth management industry, today announced a strategic partnership with SteelPeak Wealth (SteelPeak), an independent registered investment advisor with $3.4 billion in assets under management. Through this collaboration, SteelPeak will leverage TIFIN AG’s AI-powered asset consolidation package to enhance client engagement, foster holistic financial advisory, and drive better wealth outcomes for investors.
SteelPeak joins a growing list of forward-thinking RIAs choosing to work with TIFIN AG to expand existing client relationships and drive organic growth at scale. The partnership underscores the increasing demand across the RIA channel for solutions that empower advisors with actionable intelligence while staying true to their mission of delivering sophisticated yet simple wealth management solutions.
With the partnership, SteelPeak advisors and leadership will gain access to TIFIN AG’s advisor and home office portal, enabling seamless access to insights and growth opportunities.
14. TruthSayer AI
TruthSayer AI, a disruptive new fintech company, has unveiled the world’s first AI Hedge Fund-in-a-Box, designed for retail investors, small hedge funds, and family offices. Available via mobile app and desktop subscriptions, TruthSayer AI offers powerful, machine-learning-based investment signals and intelligence, without the high financial and time costs associated with researching advanced quantitative strategies.
TruthSayer AI offers three proprietary indices—Earnings AI© (14.51% Alpha vs Benchmark*), Valuations AI© (16.8% Alpha vs Benchmark), and Dark Pools AI© (-5.45% Alpha vs Benchmark). The firm’s big data analytics have a win rate of 85%-95%, a significant edge especially in current volatile market conditions.
The platform employs a unique LLMaaS (Large Language Model as a Service) architecture, making it both more cost-efficient and accurate compared to other AI players. TruthSayer AI analyzes over 104 million financial statement data points, 3 million minutes of financial audio transcripts, $3.2 trillion in dark pool transactions, and more than $50 billion in insider trading activity. With 400,000+ earnings releases and valuation models covering 6,000+ U.S.-listed stocks, the app’s data insights are unmatched in breadth and depth.
15. Upstart
First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union has partnered with Upstart (NASDAQ: UPST), the leading artificial intelligence (AI) lending marketplace, to expand access to personal loans and better serve its growing membership across Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
As an Upstart Referral Network lending partner since December 2024, First Commonwealth can now provide eligible personal loan applicants on Upstart.com with tailored loan offers. Qualified applicants seamlessly transition into a First Commonwealth-branded experience to complete the online membership application and closing process. Through Upstart APIs, new member and loan data integrate into First Commonwealth’s core banking platform—ensuring a seamless member onboarding process and enhancing opportunities to serve members beyond their initial loan needs.
16. Vanilla
Vanilla, the leading platform in modern estate planning, announced a partnership with Mariner, a national financial services firm, to deliver estate planning and advisory capabilities to the more than 700 advisors managing $560B in assets at the firm. Since the partnership began, Mariner has seen a 200% increase in revenue growth rates among the advisors who have adopted Vanilla for holistic planning.
Through this partnership, Mariner advisors have access to Vanilla’s comprehensive and intuitive platform, which offers assistance throughout the estate planning process. Advisors will also be able to leverage Vanilla’s suite of tools that simplify complex processes and accelerate client engagement, enhancing efficiency and driving firm growth.
Mariner is a fast-growing financial advisory firm in the United States. Deploying Vanilla’s estate automation suite to its advisors has accelerated Mariner’s growth trajectory, enabling firms to differentiate their services, deepen client relationships, and grow revenue through wallet share and new revenue expansion. Vanilla drives measurable value by helping advisors build and extract wills and trusts, connect documents into a holistic estate plan, and surface key insights to facilitate meaningful client conversations via the use of integrated AI.
17. Vise
Vise, the AI-powered technology platform that delivers personalized portfolios at scale, today announced the appointment of Nick Raffone as Chief Financial Officer. The announcement comes as Vise’s platform assets surpass $15 billion–a 1500% increase year-over-year—fueling the next phase of growth and innovation for the company.1
Raffone brings over a decade of financial experience in investment banking and asset management to help guide Vise through the private equity-driven transformation reshaping the wealth management industry.
The RIA landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, with private equity firms deploying unprecedented capital into the sector and fundamentally changing its structure. This shift has accelerated the consolidation of smaller practices into enterprise-scale operations, created new demands for sophisticated technology infrastructure, and introduced complex capital structures previously unseen in wealth management.
18. Wealth.com
The Charles Schwab Corporation today announced it has made a minority investment in Wealth.com, the #1 rated estate planning platform in wealth management1 that is modernizing how financial advisors help clients of all wealth levels with their estate planning needs.
Schwab’s investment will help Wealth.com continue to scale its capabilities to make it easier for financial firms and advisors to provide valuable estate planning services to individuals and families. Wealth.com’s platform equips advisors and financial professionals to offer estate planning solutions that are modern and sophisticated—yet approachable and easy for clients to navigate. Financial advisors use Wealth.com’s platform to help clients optimize their estate plans or give clients without an estate plan the ability to immediately self-create robust legal documents (e.g., wills and revocable trusts) in all 50 U.S. states and D.C. at a fraction of the cost of an estate attorney.
As an extension of this strategic investment, the two firms are also developing opportunities to offer access to Wealth.com’s estate planning tools to Schwab’s clients. Details and launch plans to follow.
19. Wealth.com
Wealth.com, the leading digital estate planning platform for financial advisors, today announced a strategic integration with eMoney Advisor, a leading provider of technology solutions and services that help people talk about money. This integration will empower financial advisors on the Wealth.com platform to deliver more efficient, accurate and holistic estate and financial planning solutions to their clients. Upon launch, advisors will be able to eliminate manual data entry and ensure real-time synchronization of financial data for a more fully integrated, AI-powered wealth management experience.
Wealth.com is the preferred estate planning platform for more than 800 wealth management firms, continuously increasing its capabilities to further enhance the advisor-client experience. In addition to this strategic integration, Wealth.com recently launched its Scenario Builder tool, the first all-in-one estate planning modeling tool designed to give advisors, wealth planners and estate attorneys insights into the potential impacts of various strategies on a client’s estate. With this partnership and recent innovations, Wealth.com continues to meet the increasing demand for premier estate planning services.
20. Zocks
Zocks, an innovative, privacy-first AI platform that turns client conversations into actionable data and insights, today announced a strategic partnership with Practifi, the leading CRM built for wealth management. This integration enables seamless two-way data synchronization between the platforms, allowing firms to leverage AI-powered insights while maintaining streamlined workflows and developing client relationships.
Contacts, meeting notes, and tasks will now sync automatically between systems. Zocks’ AI capabilities will help advisors enhance client engagement. Advisors can now access historical client data and email communications through Zocks’ “Ask Anything AI Agent,” enabling more informed client interactions and automated email responses. The partnership also facilitates automatic updates to client records and workflow progression within Practifi.
The partnership addresses key operational challenges faced by advisory firms, including manual data entry, meeting documentation, and task management across platforms.
