Broker vs machine: How advisers can demonstrate their value in the age of AI – Clifford

It’s easy to understand why. In the film Skynet, an advanced form of AI becomes self-aware and launches a nuclear strike as it sees humans as a threat.

More than 40 years after its release, the fear that machines will surpass us and render us redundant – or worse – still lingers for some.

When I speak to mortgage brokers, I often sense that underlying concern – not that AI will launch a nuclear attack, of course, but that the technology will make human beings obsolete in the advice and product selection game. 

Others I speak to are more measured but still see it as a potential, perhaps unlikely, threat to advisers’ dominant position in the mortgage market. 

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Where the mortgage sector stands with AI 

As former Association of Mortgage Intermediaries’ (AMI’s) chief executive, Robert Sinclair, warned at Stonebridge’s annual conference recently, lenders are pouring vast sums of money into AI and tech, which, of course, has the potential to reduce their reliance on intermediaries. 

But this isn’t new. Lenders have pursued direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategies for years, largely with limited success. Even in product transfers, where lenders once controlled almost all transactions, brokers now account for nearly half of the market’s take-up of product transfers and attract a procuration fee for their involvement. 

This shows that borrowers, as we all know, still very much value human guidance when making complex decisions like choosing a mortgage. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. 

But brokers can’t afford to be complacent. To thrive in the age of AI, they must get better at demonstrating their value – not just during the initial transaction, but throughout the customer’s lifetime. 

How brokers will stand out 

Brokers need to focus on what sets them apart: human connection, building long-standing relationships, and providing expert advice in an empathetic and personal way.

In an AI-driven world, advisers should maintain visibility with their clients, staying engaged long after the sale. 

Scheduling mid-term reviews, proactively flagging important changes, and sharing useful content on protection or long-term planning can help brokers stay top of mind, positioning themselves as trusted advisers in customers’ financial lives, not just mortgage experts.

AI can help automate these processes, which is why firms like ours are very much taking it seriously and embracing it. 

At Stonebridge, we have invested in leading technology solutions, including using AI to automate tasks like file checks and compliance audits, improving the identification and recording of those in vulnerable circumstances, and helping advisers stay in touch with their customers between mortgage transactions.

Peers of ours are planning to do the same over time, with concepts such as broker tech being a guardian angel on the shoulder of brokers; we deployed AI in this way over two years ago and it’s really making a major difference. 

AI isn’t the enemy 

To be clear, AI is an enabler. It excels at admin and repeatable tasks but can’t comprehend a customer’s future plans, emotional triggers, or personal concerns in the way an experienced human adviser does.

That’s where brokers excel. While AI simply won’t replace brokers, brokers who embrace AI technologies may replace those who don’t. 

The future of advice isn’t man versus machine – it’s human insight, experience and empathy, turbocharged by AI-driven efficiency. AI won’t ever replace the emotional reassurance that a human adviser does, naturally. 

That may not be a finale worthy of another Terminator movie, but to me, it’s a future worth embracing.