Companies in the wealth management industry are increasingly turning to generative and agentic AI to streamline operations, improve decision-making, and discover new sources of alpha (a measure of an investment strategy’s ability to outperform the market, taking into account risk). This trend continues with Franklin Templeton’s latest partnership with Wando AI, marking a shift towards a more autonomous and data-driven investment process.
Franklin Resources, operating as Franklin Templeton, has entered into a strategic partnership with Wand AI, an enterprise AI platform, to begin enterprise deployment of agent AI on Franklin Templeton’s worldwide platform. Wand’s Autonomous Workforce and Agent Management technology enabled Franklin to implement agent AI at scale, accelerating data-driven decision-making in the investment process.
This collaboration has strengthened the partnership between the two companies, moving from an initial small pilot program to a fully operational AI system. Initial implementations focused on high-value applications of AI within Franklin Templeton’s investment team, but both companies now have plans to deploy intelligent agents at scale across various departments.
The company plans to expand its use of Wand AI’s intelligent agents in 2026, with the aim of driving digital transformation within the organization and enhancing investment research.
Franklin wants to ensure that AI systems are managed responsibly, with strict oversight, compliance, and risk management to maintain trust and transparency. “With strong governance in place, we are demonstrating that AI can be secure, scalable, and deliver measurable value,” said Vasundhara Chetluru, Head of AI Platform at Franklin Templeton.
Commenting on the company’s AI vision, Wand AI CEO Rotem Araluf said its mission is to “elevate AI from an experimental technology to a fully integrated, adaptive workforce that drives enterprise-wide transformation and has a significant business impact.”
Aralf said AI agents can “work seamlessly with human teams and operate at scale in complex, highly regulated environments to achieve innovative results,” but only if they are “properly managed, coordinated, and deployed as a unified agent workforce.”
AI takes center stage in asset management
Other companies in the space are also going all-in on AI. Goldman Sachs is implementing AI at scale, with CEO David Solomon pointing to the technology as a key force for economic growth. He is on record as saying that the opportunities presented by AI are “tremendous.”
According to the Goldman Sachs report “AI: Into a Bubble?”, the firm estimates that generative AI could create $20 trillion in economic value over the long term. The report suggests that AI, if implemented at scale, has the ability to increase labor productivity in the United States by up to 15%.
In June 2025, Goldman Sachs (GS) expanded its use of AI by launching an in-house generative AI assistant, joining the list of large banks already using the technology in their operations.
GS AI Assistant is designed to help with tasks such as drafting the first content, completing data analysis, and summarizing complex documents. The bank says this has increased team productivity and enabled thousands of employees to prioritize higher-value, strategic work.
These moves mark a shift in AI from niche use cases and pilot projects to the boundaries of enterprise adoption at major institutions to improve productivity and operational support.
David Solomon acknowledged that AI presents a “huge” opportunity, but stressed that there will be “winners and losers”. Solomon said clients need to be diligent about AI investments because some capital investments don’t yield returns.
Solomon also noted that technology has already changed the composition of GS’s workforce over the past 25 years. The bank currently employs 13,000 engineers, and we have seen job descriptions change over time. Solomon believes that rather than roles disappearing as technology advances, the economy and workforce will adapt to change. “At the end of the day, we have an incredibly flexible and agile economy. We have a great ability to adapt and adjust,” he said.
“Certainly there will be some movement and change in roles, but I’m looking forward to that. If you look at it from a three to five-year perspective, it will give us even more ability to invest in our business,” he said.
Goldman Sachs and Franklin Temelton are part of a broader trend of financial institutions accelerating AI adoption. “I can’t find a CEO in any industry that I talk to who isn’t focused on how to reimagine and automate processes in their business to create operational efficiency and productivity,” said Solomon.
(Image source: “New York Stock Exchange Trading Floor During Zendesk IPO” by Scott Beale is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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