On the afternoon of 20 May, ahead of the Fund Awards, dozens of financial professionals gathered at nhow Amsterdam RAI for the AI roundtable sessions. The atmosphere in the session — organised by Fund Seminar in partnership with DSI, VV&A and DUFAS — was open, opinions varied and anecdotes revealing.

Because while technology is in theory changing everything, the impact in the day-to-day practice of many advisers is not yet felt all that strongly. Most attendees are primarily using AI for summaries of client meetings and for streamlining administration. Rob Neuvel, private banker at Van Lanschot Kempen and Financial Planner of the Year 2026, aptly described the technology as an ‘assistant on speed’ — useful and fast, but still an assistant.

Yet some remarks suggested a deeper shift. One participant noted that he is now the only junior in his firm — AI handles the rest — and that he even has time left over for gatherings like this. An eyebrow was raised. But Bas Rapati, Chief Analytics Officer at Van Lanschot Kempen, offered an immediate counterpoint: in the United States, some firms are already choosing people over AI, simply because it works out cheaper.

The most urgent tone came from the table on regulation and supervision. ChatGPT-drafted complaints to Kifid, bias baked into algorithms, supervisors still working out their own position: the tsunami of digital change is on its way — even if you cannot quite see it yet in the average advisory practice of today.