*NOTE : This is an article with some excellent insights and practical solutions recently published by cfainstitute.org and theconversation.com

Dec 2025

As artificial intelligence is increasingly integrated into daily workflows across investment management, how can mid-career professionals adapt and thrive?

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation have the potential to enhance productivity, improve outcomes and reshape the client experience in investment management. While this creates a host of opportunities for mid-career professionals, it also raises a burning question: how do you stay relevant in an industry that’s evolving so fast?

It begins with appreciating where the industry is likely to be heading in the near future. While much of the focus today is on generative AI (GenAI) tools, institutions are increasingly turning their attention to Agentic AI, capable of managing entire workflows independently. Agentic AI will usher in a far greater productivity boost than current GenAI tools and copilots, predicts consultancy McKinsey.

In this new landscape, the finance industry could soon consist of professionals overseeing, validating and determining goals for ‘teams’ of AI agents, enabling them to do many more tasks, far more efficiently. Fluency in AI tools and Agentic AI will be non-negotiable.

Maxim Tambling, Head of Global Talent Management at Vanguard, said: “I really don’t see a role type where not having AI literacy is going to be okay in the future.”

To provide finance professionals practical guidance on using Agentic AI, CFA Institute recently published a report with examples of how such systems can be incorporated in investment management workflows, along with advice on how to turn early prototypes into more reliable, auditable tools.

Agentic AI will drive the next stage of automation and enhancement of the investment process. Already, AI’s ability to sift through vast datasets to identify patterns and generate insight has been applied to streamlining portfolio construction and optimization.  AI can also greatly improve execution of trades.

These functions can be further improved and automated by integrating AI agents’ natural language processing capabilities and contextual awareness. For example, Agentic AI can augment traditional portfolio construction to produce highly customized, client-specific portfolios at scale.
 

Staying in the loop 

To succeed in an increasingly AI-driven industry, finance professionals will need to be able to work alongside technology and understand its strategic implications for stakeholders.

The goal for mid-career professionals is not to become AI experts. Instead, it is to become fluent in the use of the GenAI tools for their day-to-day workflows, and familiar enough with emerging technologies such as Agentic AI and quantum computing to understand how they can be used to derive a competitive advantage for their firms — along with the risks of using them, and the oversight needed to keep things on track.

To keep abreast of the latest AI developments impacting their industry, mid-career professionals should adopt a proactive, multi-channel learning strategy. This includes following resources such as CFA Institute’s The Automation Ahead series and other reputable fintech and AI newsletters, attending industry conferences and webinars, and engaging with thought leaders on platforms like LinkedIn.

It’s also worth seeking opportunities to pick up AI skills on the job. One way to do that, according to Eleonore Dachicourt, CFA, Head of Sustainable Investments, Wealth Management, Asia, at BNP Paribas, is to participate in cross-generational knowledge exchange by working with younger colleagues.

“As senior leaders, we need to empower and learn from the younger generation – the digital natives – for whom technology and AI come naturally, while we bring experience, context, and judgement,” she said. “That blend of skills is where the real value lies.”

Another way is to assign yourself mini projects which require picking up specific AI skills or knowledge by a given deadline, as well as committing more broadly to lifelong learning for mid-career finance professionals, and finding ways to fit professional development into a busy schedule.

Time for self-reflection 

In view of the AI-driven transformation that lies ahead, it’s also a good time to take stock of the role you’re currently performing, said Stephanie Liang Shi Xian, CFA, Portfolio Manager at Dimensional Fund Advisors.

“Ask yourself what are the things you’re doing that AI can either automate or reduce, and what are the things that are still adding value overall,” she said.  

For Liang, the inexorable march of automation means her role is increasingly about providing human oversight. “When everything is rules-based, you need to make sure things are going as expected,” she said. “You need experience and critical thinking to identify when things go wrong.”

A host of other human skills are needed to ensure that you continue to add value as AI works its way into more processes. Scott Taylor, Professor of Organizational Behavior at Babson College, highlighted the importance of communicating with others and winning their trust.

“I may be able to get AI to do a lot of what I do, but I still have to convince others about the relevance of that work,” said Taylor. “I still have to be able to take feedback effectively about that work. There’s a heightened need to be able to take that AI output or discovery and socialize it in a way that has impact in how we do business or how we make decisions.”

Tambling added that the people best able to achieve insights and innovation with the help of AI will be the ones with the highest levels of curiosity. “The people who know how to shape and frame questions really well, who know how to iterate and continue to build on work, who have a sense of what the output should look like, as well as the ethical considerations of AI use, and who are adaptable and able to problem-solve — they’re the key things we see.” 
 

Virtuous cycle of tech and human capabilities 

The finance industry of the future will be powered by a mutually reinforcing combination of AI tools and human insight, intuition and interpersonal skills.

Take wealth management, where AI is alleviating the administrative burden for advisors, supporting compliance and fraud detection. This frees advisors to devote more time to cultivating client relationships — calling on their communication and interpersonal skills such empathy and active listening. Moreover, AI can also help advisors build trust with clients — for example, by analyzing client communications to detect changes in sentiment or financial needs.

Then there’s fund distribution, which also revolves around adeptly identifying and handling client needs. Predictive analytics, for example, can forecast investor behavior, helping sales teams target prospects more effectively. But here again, using those data-driven insights to improve business outcomes hinges on having solid people skills like self-awareness, storytelling, collaboration and relationship building.

These skills do not have to be innate — they can be learned. One route is to enroll in one-on-one career coaching, workshops or leadership development programs. Another is to participate in cross-functional projects to practice collaboration and adaptability in diverse team settings. Then there’s actively soliciting feedback from colleagues and mentors, as well as just reading and reflecting on the topic.

Ultimately, like developing any skill, it’s about staying consistent and open to learning. And it’s a commitment worth making. At a time of rapid technological disruption, it’s the enduring power of human interaction that anchors professionals, ensuring they remain not just relevant, but indispensable. 

(Part 2) Are you in a mid‑career to senior job? Don’t fear AI – you could have this important advantage

Have you ever sat in a meeting where someone half your age casually mentions “prompting ChatGPT” or “running this through AI”, and felt a familiar knot in your stomach? You’re not alone. 

There’s a growing narrative that artificial intelligence (AI) is inherently ageist, that older workers will be disproportionately hit by job displacement and are more reluctant to adopt AI tools. 

But such assumptions – especially that youth is a built-in advantage when it comes to AI – might not actually hold. 

While ageism in hiring is a real concern, if you have decades of work experience, your skills, knowledge and judgement could be exactly what’s needed to harness AI’s power – without falling into its traps.

What does the research say?

The research on who benefits most from AI at work is surprisingly murky, partly because it’s still early days for systematic studies on AI and work. 

Some research suggests lower-skilled workers might have more to gain than high-skilled workers on certain straightforward tasks. The picture becomes much less clear under real-world conditions, especially for complex work that relies heavily on judgement and experience.

Experience as an AI advantage

Experienced workers have a crucial advantage when it comes to prompting AI: they understand context and usually know how to express it clearly. 

While a junior advertising creative might ask an AI to “Write copy for a sustainability campaign”, a seasoned account director knows to specify “Write conversational social media copy for a sustainable fashion brand targeting eco-conscious millennials, emphasising our client’s zero-waste manufacturing process and keeping the tone authentic but not preachy”. 

This skill mirrors what experienced professionals do when briefing junior colleagues or freelancers: providing detailed instructions, accounting for audience, objectives, and constraints. It’s a competency developed through years of managing teams and projects.

Younger workers, despite their comfort with technology, may actually be at a disadvantage here. There’s a crucial difference between using technology frequently and using it well. 

Many young people may become too accustomed to AI assistance. A survey of US teens this year found 72% had used an AI companion app. Some children and teens are turning to chatbots for everyday decisions. 

Without the professional experience to recognise when something doesn’t quite fit, younger workers risk accepting AI responses that feel right – effectively “vibing” their work – rather than developing the analytical skills to evaluate AI usefulness. 

So what can you do?

First, everyone benefits from learning more about AI. In our time educating everyone from students to senior leaders and CEOs, we find that misunderstandings about how AI works have little to do with age. 

A good place to start is reading up on what AI is and what it can do for you:

• What is AI?
• Where does AI come from?
• How does AI learn?
• What can AI do?
• What makes a good AI prompt?

If you’re not even sure which AI platform to try, we would recommend testing the most prominent ones, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini.

Read more: The biggest barrier to AI adoption in the business world isn’t tech – it’s user confidence

If you’re an experienced worker feeling threatened by AI, lean into your strengths. Your decades of experience with delegation, context-setting, and critical evaluation are exactly what AI tools need. 

Start small. Pick one regular work task and experiment with AI assistance, using your judgement to evaluate and refine outputs. Practice prompting like you’re briefing a junior colleague: be specific about context, constraints, and desired outcomes, and repeat the process as needed. 

Most importantly, don’t feel threatened. In a workplace increasingly filled with AI-generated content, your ability to spot what doesn’t quite fit, and to know what questions to ask, has never been more valuable.

As artificial intelligence transforms how investment professionals analyze markets, build portfolios, and manage risk, CFA Institute is delivering cutting-edge research to support the profession.

Explore AI in Asset Management: Tools, Applications, and Frontiers from CFA Institute Research Foundation and CFA Institute Policy Center.

Authors : https://www.cfainstitute.org/ & https://theconversation.com/uk

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