Zocks’ Matt Halloran tells WP how tech is reshaping the talent pipeline
As advisory firms grapple with a growing capacity crunch and a projected shortfall of 100,000 advisors by 2034, artificial intelligence is emerging not just as a tool for efficiency, but as a catalyst for reshaping how talent is developed and deployed across teams.
According to Matt Halloran, chief evangelist at Zocks, the impact is already being felt most acutely at the junior level, where traditional responsibilities are rapidly evolving.
“Junior advisors used to spend most of their time on the grunt work, tasks like paperwork, note-taking, follow-ups, all the invisible stuff that had to get done but didn’t really develop them. AI is taking a lot of that off their plate,” Halloran told InvestmentNews.
That shift is opening the door for a fundamental rethink of how early-career advisors spend their time. Rather than being confined to back-office support, Halloran said firms now have an opportunity to accelerate real skill development.
“What I hope is that firms use that freed-up time differently. Instead of sitting behind the scenes, junior advisors would get pulled into more client meetings, do more role-play, and receive real coaching,” he said. “The job shifts from ‘do the work’ to ‘learn the craft,’ which is exactly what we need if we’re going to develop the next generation of advisors.”
Compressing the timeline
This evolution is also compressing the traditional career path from paraplanner to lead advisor, a timeline that has historically taken years. With AI automating or streamlining much of the preparatory and administrative work, Halloran believes that progression can—and must—happen faster.
“I think the traditional paraplanner role, as we’ve known it, is going to change pretty dramatically. A lot of what they used to do is now automated or at least streamlined,” he said.
“If firms lean into mentorship and actually let junior advisors sit in meetings and participate earlier, there’s no reason it should take as long as it used to. You don’t need to wait years before someone is client-facing. You can start building those muscles much sooner.”
He added that the industry’s looming talent gap leaves little room for hesitation. “And honestly, we don’t have a choice. With the advisor shortage we’re facing, accelerating that path isn’t just nice to have, it’s necessary for the industry.”
What clients think about AI
For clients, the growing presence of AI is less about visible technology and more about a noticeable improvement in the advisory experience.
“From the client’s perspective, it just feels like a better meeting. The advisor is more present, more focused, and not distracted by taking notes or worrying about what they’re going to forget,” Halloran said.
“AI removes a lot of the noise that comes with being an advisor. Tools like Zocks, for example, handle meeting capture and follow-up automatically, so the advisor can actually listen.”
Despite that support, Halloran emphasized that the core of advice remains firmly human-led. “Where the human leads hasn’t changed. It’s the relationship. It’s reading the room, understanding what’s not being said, and guiding decisions based on that. AI can support that, but it can’t replace it.”
That distinction is particularly important as some advisors worry about the potential for AI to commoditize their services. Halloran does not dismiss that concern—but he sees it as a net positive for the profession.
“It’s absolutely going to commoditize parts of the job, and honestly, it probably should,” he said.
“AI can build a solid portfolio or run analysis all day long. But it can’t look at a client’s face when you’re talking about risk and pick up on hesitation or fear. It can’t adjust based on emotion or context.”
In his view, that dynamic will sharpen, rather than erode, differentiation. “What I think happens is that AI removes the advisors who were relying purely on performance, and it elevates the ones who are great at relationships. That’s where real differentiation is going to live going forward.”
More clients while maintaining quality
At a broader level, AI is also helping firms address the industry’s capacity constraints by enabling advisors to serve more clients without sacrificing quality.
“AI can help existing advisors serve more clients. That’s a big part of the solution. It creates capacity by reducing the time spent on all the behind-the-scenes work,” Halloran said.
But he is clear about its limits. “It doesn’t replace the need for people,” he added, noting that technology alone cannot solve the talent shortage.
Instead, AI may help make the profession more attractive to new entrants. “If AI helps remove some of that friction and we pair it with better training and mentorship, we might actually bring more people into the profession — or even bring some back.”
That combination of efficiency and talent development is already influencing how leading RIAs are structuring their teams. Rather than relying heavily on senior advisors, firms are increasingly enabling junior staff to contribute earlier and more meaningfully.
“You’re going to see more tech-enabled junior advisors who can contribute meaningfully much earlier in their careers,” Halloran said.
“And I think a lot of senior advisors are going to be surprised by how quickly that next generation catches up. The timeline for developing a lead advisor is compressing, whether firms are ready for that or not.”
For firms that have yet to embrace AI, the risks extend beyond operational inefficiencies to long-term talent challenges. Halloran warned that hesitation is no longer viable in the current environment.
“Being a Luddite is no longer a thing. This isn’t a ‘wait and see’ moment,” he said.
“Firms that don’t adopt AI are going to be slower — slower to prepare for meetings, slower to follow up, slower to respond to client needs. That alone is a competitive problem.”
More critically, he pointed to a widening disconnect between firms and the next generation of advisors. “If your firm looks outdated, you’re not just less efficient — you’re less attractive to the next generation. And that’s a much harder problem to fix.”
