Cresset's Big AI Transformation Drive

Tom Burroughes

7 November 2025

Cresset is a business whose creators have designed it to endure – they say – for a century or more, as explained recently to Family Wealth Report. That means adapting to the times. And no force appears to be more talked about right now than artificial intelligence – which is Cresset's next step.

The firm has appointed Dr Kelly Wagman as its director of AI business enablement, to drive change across the organization. Based in Chicago, she comes with impressive academic credentials – a PhD researcher at the University of Chicago in computer science, with a focus on generative AI within scientific organizations. Dr Wagman also has a master’s degree in comparative media studies from MIT.

What’s her remit?
“ to set strategies and build capabilities for Cresset to be as successful as possible on behalf of our clients for the long term,” she told FWR in an interview.

“Organizations that don’t give people access to the best tools will find them instead for themselves, and they can bring security risks in-house,” she said.

Instead, the approach is to encourage Cresset’s team to experiment with AI safely, including building custom GPTs. The wealth manager is building a competitive atmosphere by celebrating team members sharing helpful prompts and giving prizes for great GPTs. The firm encourages each business area to have its own AI “champion.”

The world’s wealth management sector is continuing to wrestle with AI use cases, particularly those that can deliver quick “wins” such as saving time and money for firms mindful of tight margins.

AI capabilities include credit scoring and risk assessment; fraud detection and prevention; chatbots and virtual assistants; personalized banking and financial planning; algorithmic trading; customer relationship management; regulatory compliance; robo-advisors; and natural language processing .

The rise of AI has sent shockwaves through financial services.

AI spending is a big line item for financial services. Financial institutions are accelerating investments in AI. 2025 budgets are projected to rise by 25 per cent, according to an HFS and Infosys study. Its Market Impact Report, said: “BFS enterprises are getting real about AI, but they need to get their approach right or risk lackluster, unintegrated results.”

Putting it all together
Much of the approach centers on the firm's staff learning from each other in the way they use AI, and technology more broadly, Dr Wagman continued.

With all the solutions and ideas that are created, they require human oversight, she said. “Everything that comes out has to be reviewed by humans.”

The Cresset team is keenly aware of the need to fully understand AI’s limitations and capabilities – understanding what sources of information and data it uses, she said.

Phases
“We are in an experimentation and learning phase,” she said.

What does “success” look like as far as she and the Cresset organization is concerned?

“In the long term it looks like saving our advisors’ time while giving clients the best possible experience, and it will also be more tied to business outcomes,” she said.

“If we can have AI do more mundane tasks, that gives our team more time back, which is a huge win for the client, it will allow us to provide more personalized service for people,” Dr Wagman said.