What is Raymond James' AI strategy?
Raymond James' AI strategy is to make its roughly 9,000 financial advisors and home-office staff more productive without putting AI between advisor and client. CEO Paul Shoukry put it on the July 2026 call: 'AI will not replace advisors. Advisors who use AI will replace advisors who do not use AI.' The firm created a chief AI officer post in February 2025 (Stuart Feld) and hired a head of AI strategy in September 2025, and it funds AI inside a technology budget that grew from $975 million in 2025 to more than $1.1 billion a year. It builds its main tools in-house: AI Search (April 2025), the Rai operations agent (January 2026, renamed Raimond and rolled out enterprise-wide on June 15, 2026, with 6,500 users and 99.5% satisfaction), on AWS with Anthropic's Claude as the model 'for the moment'. Shoukry argued in March 2026 that the industry 'needs these AI-driven solutions' to avoid a McKinsey-estimated shortage of 100,000 advisors by 2034. The May 2026 investor day put 'AI Scaling and Automation' on the roadmap; the firm says it is too early to size the margin effect.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Data as of Oct 16, 2026 · Raymond James profile updated Oct 13, 2026 · 31 sources cited on this page · 140 banks profiled on this site · Markdown
How has Raymond James described its AI strategy over time?
Executive statements and filed materials, oldest first. Quotes as reported by the cited source.
| Date | Who / where | What was said |
|---|---|---|
| August 1, 2024 | Firm's own account | Carillon Labs, created in 2019, tests machine learning for back-office use; no AI project reaches production until model governance teams have tested it[11] |
| February 24, 2025 | Shoukry, CAIO appointment | Stuart Feld named chief AI officer; three focus areas: service levels, time-saving tools for advisors, data-driven client advice[2] |
| April 30, 2025 | Firm's own account | $975 million a year on technology, 'in part to ensure the strategic application of artificial intelligence', with emphasis on newer advisors using it[12] |
| September 8, 2025 | Shoukry, head of AI strategy hire | 'We will continue to make meaningful investments in AI as part of our $975 million annual technology budget'[3] |
| October 22, 2025 | Fiscal 2025 results release | About $1 billion invested in technology 'including AI to enhance service and deliver data-driven advisor and client insights'; new chief AI officer and head of AI strategy roles[13] |
| January 27, 2026 | Rai launch | 'We will continue to deploy our multi-year investment in AI tools and capabilities while steadfastly preserving the personal relationships'[6] |
| March 2, 2026 | Shoukry, institutional investor conference | The wealth industry 'needs these AI-driven solutions'; investing 'over $1 billion in technology'; also 'looking to partner with vendors that provide specialty AI solutions'[8] |
| April 22, 2026 | Shoukry, fiscal Q2 call | The 'vast majority' of about $1.1 billion a year of technology spend goes to the Private Client Group, including the Rai rollout[14] |
| May 27, 2026 | Investor day deck | 'AI Scaling and Automation' on the technology roadmap; AI as 'an enabler of the Advisor-Client relationship'[9] |
| July 22, 2026 | Fiscal Q3 2026 call | Cost managed 'very closely, and the token costs'; the productivity effect will be 'significant' but it is 'too early to dimension'[10] |
Who runs AI at Raymond James and what are its pillars?
The firm frames AI around three pillars: data-driven insights for client advice, enhanced service models, and secure, scalable applications. Rai, per Shoukry, 'reflects our strategy of applying artificial intelligence to enhanced service models and secure, scalable applications'.[6][15]
Chief AI Officer Stuart Feld, a senior vice president who also heads front-office technology and leads the Carillon Labs research team, is the principal AI architect; head of AI strategy David Solganik reports to him, and chief architect Seth Ford, hired from Vanguard in June 2026, chairs the Technology Review Board. All sit in CIO Andy Zolper's organisation.[16][3][17]
Build versus buy: Feld said in March 2025 that the firm builds no large language models of its own, and AI Search and Rai were built in-house on AWS; Zolper said in May 2026 that Anthropic's Claude is the language model for now. Staff also have secure access to ChatGPT Enterprise and Microsoft Copilot.[18][19][7][6]
What has Raymond James not disclosed about its AI strategy?
The firm has not split out AI spending from its technology budget or put a number on expected savings: Shoukry said on the July 2026 call that the effect is 'too early to dimension'. None of the three fiscal 2026 10-Qs mentions AI; the AI risk factor sits in the fiscal 2025 10-K.[10][20][21]
No client-facing AI adviser has been launched. Zolper said in May 2026 that Raimond could become client-facing if advisors see a use case, and that moving it from answering questions to performing tasks was a six-to-12-month aim.[7]
What does the Raymond James profile record on this topic?
The rows below are the entries of the Raymond James AI strategy profile that bear on this page, as of Oct 13, 2026; the profile holds the full record of 31 dated moves, 16 use cases and 46 sources.
| Use case | What the record shows | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rai operations agent | Interactive gen-AI Q&A over firm systems and policies for advisors and associates. | In production | [6] |
| AI Search and CRM Note Assistant | Gen-AI search of the internal knowledge base; note organisation and summaries in RJ CRM. | In production | [3][22] |
| AI-assisted software development | Roughly 3.2 million lines of code a month generated by AI systems under developer oversight, per Chief AI Officer Feld (January 2026). | In production | [23] |
| Chief AI officer and AI strategy office | Cross-business identification of analytics, ML and gen-AI opportunities. | In production | [3] |
| Expanded AWS data and analytics collaboration | AWS performance optimization work to strengthen the enterprise data platform behind advisor-facing applications, business intelligence and 'emerging AI capabilities.' | Announced | [24] |
| Anthropic Claude on AWS behind the advisor AI tools | CIO Zolper said the platforms were built with AWS and use Anthropic's Claude for language modelling for now, with the firm open to other providers. | In production | [7] |
| Raimond: from answering questions to performing tasks | 600 advisors and 1,400 home-office staff pilot the agent; the stated aim within six to 12 months is to let it carry out actions such as opening a trust account, introduced cautiously so advisors stay comfortable. | Announced | [7] |
| Machine learning in threat detection and fraud prevention | AI enhances real-time threat detection and fraud prevention; on the April 2026 call Shoukry said the firm uses AI in cybersecurity while the tooling continues to evolve. | In production | [11][25] |
| Contractual bar on vendor training and retention | Feld said vendor contracts prevent vendors from training on or retaining firm information, and that no firm data is used in open, trainable models. | In production | [18] |
| Date | Move | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 22, 2026 | Meta's Muse reignites the AI selloff | Raymond James shares shed 3.5% as LPL fell 7% and Schwab 6% on fears of consumer AI agents for investors. | [26] |
| Sep 21, 2026 | Expanded AWS collaboration to advance AI-powered advisor insights | Building on more than a decade of AWS investment, the firm announced AWS performance optimization work intended to 'accelerate the next generation of AI-powered insights and experiences for financial advisors and their clients,' per CIO Andy Zolper, strengthening the enterprise data and analytics foundation behind advisor-facing applications, business intelligence and emerging AI capabilities. | [24] |
| Aug 4, 2026 | AI seen as 'incremental threat' to cash sweeps | Shoukry's view contrasted with LPL's pricing review. | [27] |
| Jul 22, 2026 | Q3 call: AI cost managed through token spend; payoff not yet sized | Shoukry says the firm is managing AI cost 'very closely, and the token costs', expects the productivity and expense effect to be significant but is not prepared to put a percentage on it. | [10] |
| Jul 22, 2026 | Q3 call: 99.5% satisfaction with Rai; AI Academy | Nearly 20,000 people completed the four-course AI Academy; the CEO says AI will not replace advisors, but advisors who use it will replace those who do not. | [1] |
| Jun 15, 2026 | Rai rolled out enterprise-wide | After a pilot and phased deployment; 6,500 unique users shortly after launch. | [1] |
| May 27, 2026 | Investor day: 'AI Scaling and Automation' on the roadmap | The deck presents AI as 'an enabler of the Advisor-Client relationship' across back, middle and front office, built on proprietary enterprise data platforms. | [9] |
| May 4, 2026 | Elevate: Client 360 and AI Academy launched; Rai renamed Raimond | Client 360 tripled engagement with the Opportunities app. Zolper said 600 advisors and 1,400 home-office staff pilot Raimond, which should move from answering questions to performing tasks over six to 12 months, and that the AWS-built platforms use Anthropic's Claude for now. | [28][7][29] |
| Apr 22, 2026 | Q2 call: Rai piloted with a few hundred advisors; agentic AI next | Technology spend now more than $1.1 billion a year; the CEO calls margin estimates from AI 'too preliminary' and names agentic AI as the next phase. | [4] |
| Mar 4, 2026 | Investor conference: AI as the answer to the advisor shortage | Shoukry cites McKinsey's estimate of a 100,000-advisor shortfall by 2034, says Rai was built from transcripts of service calls, and plans to extend it to all businesses; the firm is building AI internally and partnering with vendors for specialist tools. | [8] |
| Jan 28, 2026 | Q1 fiscal 2026 call: Rai named as the AI strategy's headline launch | Shoukry calls Rai 'our newly launched proprietary digital AI operations agent' and says the firm has been investing 'close to $1.1 billion this year' in technology and AI. | [30][31] |
| Jan 27, 2026 | Rai, proprietary gen-AI operations agent, launched | Natural-language answers to operational questions across firm knowledge bases. In launch coverage Feld said more than 10,000 associates regularly use conversational AI and roughly 3.2 million lines of code a month are generated by AI under developer oversight, and called the rollout 'the first of several phases'. | [6][23] |
What is Raymond James' approach to AI?
Advisor-first: the firm builds AI tools for its financial advisors and home-office staff rather than client-facing robo-advice. CEO Paul Shoukry said in July 2026 that AI will not replace advisors, but advisors who use AI will replace those who do not. AI is funded inside a technology budget of more than $1.1 billion a year.
How much does Raymond James spend on AI?
It does not disclose a separate AI figure. AI is funded within a technology budget the firm put at $975 million a year in 2025 and more than $1.1 billion a year in 2026. On the fiscal 2025 call the CEO said the firm was budgeting for a significant increase in AI expenses, and in July 2026 that it manages token costs closely.
Who leads AI at Raymond James?
Stuart Feld became the firm's first chief AI officer in February 2025; he also heads front-office technology and leads Carillon Labs, its AI research and development team. David Solganik, head of AI strategy since September 2025, reports to him. Chief architect Seth Ford and CIO Andy Zolper lead the wider technology organisation.
Does Raymond James build its own AI models?
Not large language models. Chief AI Officer Stuart Feld said in March 2025 that the firm uses other providers' LLMs. It builds its applications in-house, including AI Search and the Rai or Raimond agent, on Amazon Web Services, and CIO Andy Zolper said in May 2026 that Anthropic's Claude is the language model for now.
How has Raymond James' AI effort changed since 2024?
In 2024 the firm described its AI work mainly through Carillon Labs, a lab created in 2019 that tested machine learning for back-office uses behind a model-governance gate. In 2025 it named a chief AI officer and head of AI strategy and built AI Search; by January 2026 more than 10,000 associates used conversational AI regularly, with secure access to ChatGPT Enterprise and Microsoft Copilot.
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