I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a question that keeps coming up in conversations with financial advisors across the country: Is technology making our work less meaningful or more?

I think the answer is clear, and the data backs it up. According to new research from Edward Jones and Morning Consult, 82% of financial advisors are already using artificial intelligence (AI) in their practice and the overwhelming view is that it’s making their work more human, not less. Sixty-eight percent say that building and maintaining long-term client trust still requires a human touch. I couldn’t agree more.

That’s not a story about technology replacing the advisor. It’s a story about technology freeing the advisor — taking on the tasks that consume time without deepening relationships, so you can show up more fully for the conversations that actually matter.

At Edward Jones, that’s exactly the future we’re building toward. And if you’re an experienced financial advisor, this is a meaningful and strategic moment to consider what a career here could look like for you.

Let me start with a fact that I find both sobering and energizing: the industry is facing a significant decline in the number of financial advisors at the same time that demand for trusted, human advice is rising. People are living longer, their financial lives are increasingly complex and they are navigating a world where AI tools are everywhere.

Our research showed that 38% of advisors say clients are already comparing their guidance to what they can get online or through AI tools, but that doesn’t make financial advisors replaceable. Your judgment, your presence and your ability to sit across from someone in one of the hardest moments of their life and help them make sense of it all can’t be replicated by an algorithm.

Clients today need someone they can trust. The quality of the advisor relationship is arguably more important than ever.

You need to make more time for your clients. Time to invest in deep, personal relationships.

At Edward Jones, we’re investing $1.5 billion annually in financial technology specifically designed so advisors can do more of what clients actually need from them. The goal is to free up capacity, deepen the client experience and help advisors grow their practices on their own terms.

The research we released is worth reading in full — you can find it here. But the headline is simple: the advisors who are thriving right now aren’t the ones running from technology. They’re the ones who’ve figured out how to use it to show up more fully for the people who trust them most.

If you’re an experienced financial advisor thinking about where you want to build the next chapter of your practice, I’d encourage you to take a look at what we’re doing and what our advisors are saying about it. Explore our experienced financial advisor opportunity.

The future of this work is more human. I hope you’re building it somewhere that believes that as much as you do.