FT Virtual Adviser Adrian AI Avatar

Featured in FT Adviser: why I built a digital version of myself

FT Adviser's Carmen Reichman has written about Virtual Adrian, the real-time AI avatar of me that I've built for my practice.

The idea started with a simple problem. Clients have questions at all hours, in different time zones, and I can't be available around the clock. So I built a version of me that can be: same face, same voice, able to explain how I work and help someone think through the questions they may not know to ask.

AI avatar financial adviser

The live interface: Virtual Adrian in video and voice.

 

I chose to clone myself rather than use a generic avatar for one reason. This is a people business, and trust is built on familiarity.

The avatar is only the front end. Behind it is an AI system I've assembled myself, running on my own hardware, so client information never goes to a cloud AI service. It does the groundwork: research, preparation and drafting. It never makes the decision. Every recommendation still comes from me, after a proper review.

AI can take a lot of work off an adviser's desk. The accountability shouldn't be part of that.

FT Adviser | September 2026
Why an adviser is offering his clients an avatar of himself, by Carmen Reichman
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