Danni went to New Zealand for a week and the AI world lost its mind. Pete catches her up on the news that matters — starting with Anthropic's "Mythos," a model so powerful they refused to release it publicly after it uncovered up to a million vulnerabilities in major software in a matter of days (cue Jurassic Park: "scientists were so obsessed with whether they could, they never stopped to think if they should").

Then the conversation shifts closer to home: Perplexity is now letting US consumers plug their bank accounts, stocks and health data into their own Bloomberg-style dashboards, and OpenAI just quietly acquired Hero — an AI financial planning startup.

Pete and Danni unpack what it means when the world's biggest AI companies start muscling into personal financial management, why regulation is the only real moat Australian advice has left, and the uncomfortable question every practice owner needs to answer: if your service is purely digital, what exactly are clients paying you for?

#technology #wealthtech #financialadvice #ai

https://finuragroup.com/

Mark Zaglas is back. Our most downloaded guest ever returns to go a level deeper on what's changed since last year's "Stagnation to Scale" episode — and a lot has changed. Encore Advisory Group has been acquired by Evidentia, Mark has launched his Big Six Insights series, and the industry is facing an inflection point where the pace of change has doubled but the margin for error has halved.

In this episode, we unpack the rise of the COTO (Chief Operating and Technology Officer) — a concept Mark has coined for advice businesses that can no longer treat operations and technology as separate functions. We dig into why so many firms are still running on rusted sales engines, why confidence is the barrier nobody talks about, and what it actually looks like to unrust your growth capability in 2026.

We also flip the script — Mark interviews Danni on what she's seeing with AI in advice practices, from foundation models to purpose-built agents, and why the firms winning right now are the ones mapping their processes first and applying AI to the right jobs second.

Plus: the client who showed up to a review with their own Claude-generated financial plan, why operations is like an escalator you never get off, and Mark's 5P growth engine audit you can do in 90 minutes this quarter.

If you enjoyed Stagnation to Scale, this one picks up exactly where we left off — and goes deeper.

Take our free Technology Health Check at finuragroup.com to see where your practice sits.

#finuragroup #technology #dannilegrande #encoregroup #financialadvice

Pete's latest Code & Capital sparked a big conversation — why are Advice Practices still tempted to rip out their CRM when the data says it rarely ends well? Danni brings the receipts from Finura's Technology Health Check: only 17% of Practices are actually planning to move, barely half use their CRM as a source of truth, and 80% don't even run an RFP when choosing new tech. We also dig into the real risks of Advisers building SOAs in ChatGPT, why clients are now using AI to check their Adviser's AI, and whether we're breeding a generation of professionals who can't think without a chatbot. Plus: Amdahl's Law, the $30 billion CRM switching industry, and why tidying up your shop beats chasing shiny new tools.#finuragroup #peterworn #dannilegrande #technology

In this episode of The WealthTech Insider, Danni Le Grande and Peter Worn unpack a deceptively simple question that opens a much bigger conversation: why do so many AI tools have human — and overwhelmingly female — names?

What starts as a light observation quickly turns into a deeper discussion about trust, subconscious design choices, and the risks of anthropomorphising technology in professional environments. From “Sophie the assistant” to “Colin from compliance”, Danni and Pete explore how naming AI shapes behaviour, lowers scepticism, and may lead us to over-trust systems that are still fallible — particularly in regulated industries like financial advice.

This isn’t a culture-war debate or an anti-AI rant. It’s a grounded conversation about awareness: how AI is being designed, why familiarity matters, and what professionals need to keep front-of-mind as human-like software becomes embedded in daily workflows.

#finuragroup #technology #ai #dannilegrande #peterworn

Most Australians have critically low financial literacy, yet the advice industry is sitting on a golden opportunity to change that—and unlock billions in advice demand. Marcus Field from Iris sheds light on groundbreaking research that reveals the true scale of Australia's financial capability crisis and how a strategic shift in education, regulation, and advice delivery can turn unmet needs into national productivity.This episode exposes why financial literacy has declined despite access to more information than ever—and how societal, educational, and industry blind spots are exacerbating the problem. You’ll discover the seven mega-trends transforming advice by 2030, including the demand for lighter, scalable guidance that reaches millions more Australians. Marcus shares concrete frameworks for redefining guidance versus advice, tackling the persistent money taboo, and embedding financial well-being into workplaces and schools.We break down the critical role advisors and employers can play in closing the financial literacy gap—especially for women, pre-retirees, and the next generation. This episode reveals how agencies and fintechs can leverage trust, education, and targeted digital solutions to turn financial capability into a sustainable, scalable revenue stream.Perfect for advice professionals, fintech innovators, and industry leaders committed to societal impact and growth—this is your blueprint to help millions get financially savvy while transforming your business. The opportunity to shape Australia’s financial future—and profit from it—is here. Will you take it?Download IRESS's full research report a thttps://info.iress.com/thebiglift and learn how redefining guidance could be the game-changer your firm needs now. Don’t miss this vital conversation on a national challenge with a profitable solution in sight.https://info.iress.com/thebiglift

In this special episode of The WealthTech Insider, Danni Le Grande and Peter Worn unpack Finura’s official 2026 WealthTech Predictions and discuss what these trends actually mean for Advice businesses on the ground.

From the coming AI governance reckoning and the real risks Advisers are underestimating, to the rise of platform oligopolies, shifting Licensee and Managed Account dynamics, and the technology pricing reset, this episode explores where capital, power and risk are concentrating in the advice ecosystem.

They also examine why digital advice isn’t for everyone, how global AI players are eyeing Australia, what happens when personal AI collides with compliance-heavy workplaces, and why Claude may emerge as the enterprise AI of choice in 2026.

This conversation is practical, candid, and grounded in what Finura is seeing every day with Advice firms — designed to help Teams make better decisions in an increasingly complex tech landscape.

#technology #predictions

What does a successful Tech Transformation actually look like inside a growing Advice firm?

In this episode of The WealthTech Insider, Danni Le Grande speaks with Simon Backman, CEO of Wahlstrom Financial Services, about the reality behind modernising Advice delivery — from early resistance and change fatigue to measurable time savings and a better client experience.

Simon reflects on why Tech should amplify people, not replace them; how disciplined rollout and ownership drove adoption; and why clients feel the outcomes of good tech long before they notice the tools themselves.

An honest, grounded discussion for Leaders who want progress without hype — and transformation that actually sticks.

#finuragroup #technology #wealthtech #dannilegrande

Featuring a new Finura Client: Verse Wealth

What happens when you throw out the traditional financial advice playbook — but keep the discipline, compliance and rigour that actually protects clients?

In this episode of WealthTech Insider, Peter Worn sits down with Corey Wastle, founder of Verse Wealth, one of Australia’s most quietly radical advice firms. Corey didn’t come up through the usual financial-planning ranks. He came from marketing, brand and customer experience — and he used that lens to design Verse from a blank page.

Together they unpack how Verse was built differently from day one:

• How technology isn’t used to automate advice — but to deepen human connection

• Why organic growth beats aggressive scaling in a trust-based business

• And how Verse created a new role — the Client Experience Manager (CXM) — to bridge the gap between compliance, advisers and clients

This isn’t a story about disruption for disruption’s sake.

It’s about what modern financial advice looks like when it’s designed properly — from culture and technology to client experience and long-term trust.

If you’re building, running or investing in an advice business, this episode is a glimpse into what the next generation of firms will look like.

A short, informal welcome back to 2026.

Danni and Pete catch up after the break and run through what’s coming up on The WealthTech Insider this year.

#finuragroup #wealthtech #technology #peterworn #dannilegrande

Most Australians have critically low financial literacy, yet the advice industry is sitting on a golden opportunity to change that—and unlock billions in advice demand. Marcus Field from Iris sheds light on groundbreaking research that reveals the true scale of Australia's financial capability crisis and how a strategic shift in education, regulation, and advice delivery can turn unmet needs into national productivity.This episode exposes why financial literacy has declined despite access to more information than ever—and how societal, educational, and industry blind spots are exacerbating the problem. You’ll discover the seven mega-trends transforming advice by 2030, including the demand for lighter, scalable guidance that reaches millions more Australians. Marcus shares concrete frameworks for redefining guidance versus advice, tackling the persistent money taboo, and embedding financial well-being into workplaces and schools.We break down the critical role advisors and employers can play in closing the financial literacy gap—especially for women, pre-retirees, and the next generation. This episode reveals how agencies and fintechs can leverage trust, education, and targeted digital solutions to turn financial capability into a sustainable, scalable revenue stream.Perfect for advice professionals, fintech innovators, and industry leaders committed to societal impact and growth—this is your blueprint to help millions get financially savvy while transforming your business. The opportunity to shape Australia’s financial future—and profit from it—is here. Will you take it?Download IRESS's full research report a thttps://info.iress.com/thebiglift and learn how redefining guidance could be the game-changer your firm needs now. Don’t miss this vital conversation on a national challenge with a profitable solution in sight.https://info.iress.com/thebiglift