AI Agents in Finance: From Chatbots to Financial Advisors
Contributed Opinion

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Last week, we wrote about the impending convergence of AI and crypto, focusing on AI agents. This week, I want to focus on financial services.

AI agents are basically software that can perform tasks in some human direction and, perhaps, eventually autonomously. They need a way to transact, store value, and enter binding relationships with people (and other agents). An AI agent can't walk into a bank and open an account or sign a legal contract (not yet, at least), so crypto is the best bet for how they will do business.

There is still some confusion on how to define the term 'agent' in the context of AI. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin alluded to this in a recent post on X, where he said: "Agents" is a fun word. Sometimes it means "AI that runs off and makes its own complicated plans that last for days with no human input," but often it just means "chatbot replaces GUIs as the interface to everything." The latter is great!

So far, many AI innovations that we have seen so far in crypto have been variations on the latter theme: bots that can perform specific, narrowly defined tasks, faster and more efficiently than people, but still at their direction and discretion.

This shouldn't be discounted. Chatbots and other AI 'bots' might make the web more accessible and fun while unlocking value for their owners. Why not communicate with plain language rather than scroll, point, and click?

The future will probably look quite different. "AIs are willing to work for less than $1 per hour and have the knowledge of an encyclopedia," says Buterin, "and if that's not enough, they can even be integrated with real-time web search capability."

What happens in a world where these superintelligent AIs have the autonomy and resources to conduct business on their own? What impact will they have on business, society and culture?

These are themes I plan on exploring a lot more in 2025.

For now, let's look at the potential impact on financial services. Finance is not just any one industry; it is the cardiovascular system for the global economy and money is its lifeblood. Governments, banks and central banks make up the main organs and arteries. But as with every other industry, finance will be shaken up by software, particularly AI and crypto.

To frame this discussion, I have developed the following taxonomy. On the left hand side are the most basic kinds of AI. On the right hand side, the most complex. As we move left to right, the AI gains the ability to understand intentions, to reason and plan, and to act autonomously. They become more complex, independent and intelligent.

Category #1 are "Execution Agents" aka trading bots, that can take instructions and perform a pre-determined set of tasks. This is nothing new. Bots have been deployed in crypto for at least a decade, exploiting arbitrages faster than people can on decentralized exchanges. And trading "algos" have been deployed in traditional finance even longer.

Category #2 are "Co-Pilot Agents" — Think of these as a super knowledgeable and capable friend who can educate you on the markets, direct you to the best platforms, and assist you as you're placing trades or making investments. Eventually, your co-pilot might even be able to seek out the best return with the lowest risk of every investible asset in the universe.

Category #3 are "Advisor Agents" or "AI Family Offices." This AI can plan, reason, and act independently. It can draft a will, incorporate a company or trust, create and implement a detailed tax plan, and more. This AI can operate for days, weeks or months without any intervention from you. Today, this kind of bespoke financial service is typically only available to the rich and ultra-rich. In the future, AI may make it commonplace.

To be sure, there are other more crazy future outcomes. AI agents that gain sovereignty and begin to conduct business on their own behalf, growing in size and influence. AI agents that start companies and employ dozens or hundreds of people. AI agents that gain sentience and start demanding the same rights as people. AI agents cooperating to destroy humanity . . . you get the picture.

For now, let's look on the bright side. Technology has historically made society richer, more productive and has lowered barriers to everything from information to healthcare to mobility to calories. To wit, the chips in smartphones we all use were once designated as supercomputers, available to governments and big companies only. Now, they're everywhere. Perhaps, eventually, AI advisors will be everywhere too. More likely than not, they'll be operating almost entirely on-chain.

That's a good thing.

Alex Tapscott is the managing director of the Digital Asset Group, a division of Ninepoint Partners LP. He is also the author of "Web3: Charting the Internet's Next Economic and Cultural Frontier." Sign up for his newsletter, Digital Asset Digest.

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