Why Financial Advisers Shouldn’t Sign Long-Term AI Contracts - Hardy Michel From Marloo

Hardy Michel is the founder of Marloo, an AI tool for financial advisers, and one of the most unusual things you'll hear him say as a tech founder, is that he'd rather you didn't sign a long-term contract for AI - even though it works against him commercially! Spending years working behind the scenes at retail investing platforms, Hardy Michel watched the same pattern play out again and again: people wanting to do the right thing with their money, then panicking and getting it wrong the moment markets got volatile. That observation, more than any grand plan, is what eventually led him to found and build "Shares" in New Zealand, which grew to over 20% of the country's population as users and 250 employees, and later Lightyear, launched across 22 European countries. Rather than build another consumer-facing platform, Hardy chose to focus on advisers directly. He and his co-founder spent six months embedded inside advice firms across the UK and Australia researching the profession before building Marloo, shadowing every role from managing director to paraplanner to understand exactly where time and energy were being lost. What that research surfaced was a profession where a single one-hour client meeting can generate ten hours of follow-up work. Hardy says Marloo can cut an annual review report from 3 hours down to 20 minutes. The conversation also covers a candid warning: Hardy tells advisers not to lock into long-term AI contracts, even though it works against Marloo's own commercial interest, because he's seen firms overpromised and under-delivered by competitors who don't keep pace. He also addresses how Marloo handles client data differently to advisers using ChatGPT or Claude directly, and where he sees AI fitting alongside, rather than replacing, a firm's CRM. Key takeaways from this episode: Why Hardy believes the real gap in financial advice is access, not quality How a one-hour client review meeting can generate ten hours of follow-up admin Why Hardy says Marloo can cut an annual review report from three hours down to 20 minutes Why Hardy and his co-founder spent six months researching inside advice firms before building Marloo Why Hardy advises against long-term AI contracts, even though Marloo only offers monthly ones How Marloo's data handling differs from advisers using ChatGPT or Claude directly Why Hardy sees AI as a complement to a firm's CRM, not a replacement for it This episode is for financial advisers and firm owners weighing up whether an AI tool is worth adopting, and for anyone curious about the research that goes into building software for a profession this heavily regulated. Visit https://www.marloo.com/us to try Marloo. Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Drop Sam a message.