Produced By: Ensombl
In recent years, conversations surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) have taken center stage in nearly every industry, from healthcare to education and beyond. In financial planning—where paperwork can be immense, client needs complex, and compliance paramount—advisors are increasingly looking to AI as a means to enhance productivity, reduce costs, and elevate the client experience. However, as with any new technology, concerns about ethics, data security, and professional integrity loom large.
In a detailed and insightful discussion, Patrick Gardner, Head of Technology at Collins SBA, talks to Josh Ratnarajah, the co-founder of Paradino, about how their AI-powered platform is already making waves in the financial services sector. They explore how Paradino originated from the power planning world, the ways in which advisors can harness AI for file notes, and the broader question of how AI can deliver better client outcomes—ethically, securely, and efficiently. This article distills their conversation into a cohesive overview, with a special emphasis on professionalism and ethics.
Financial advice in Australia, and indeed worldwide, is subject to strict oversight and regulation. Licensees, compliance officers, and advisors all understand that clear documentation is the backbone of ethical and professional service. Maintaining accurate, compliant, and timely records is not merely a bureaucratic exercise—it ensures transparency, accountability, and clarity for both advisor and client.
In the conversation, the idea of AI-based documentation immediately intersects with questions of professionalism: How do we ensure the advice process remains human-led, client-focused, and compliant while harnessing technology to reduce manual tasks? Part of the answer rests in strong file notes and records, which anchor the advice process and reduce the risk of misunderstandings or oversights.
Patrick and Josh situate the conversation within a broader trend: the increasing ubiquity of AI solutions that promise to “do it all.” Advisors may feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of tools on the market—automating various parts of the advice process—but not all solutions are created equal. AI holds massive potential, but for it to truly solve pain points, it needs to be ethically implemented, thoroughly tested, and managed with appropriate safeguards.
In professional services, AI has three primary impacts:
Yet at each juncture, compliance and ethical considerations must remain in focus. Advisors carry a fiduciary duty, and any technology they deploy must aid, rather than compromise, that duty.
Before diving into how Paradino works, it’s important to note the journey that led Josh to co-found this AI-powered platform. His story underscores the importance of domain expertise in building technology that truly meets professional needs.
Josh began his career in financial advice, first as a paraplanner during his university years, and then briefly as a financial advisor in Sydney. These experiences opened his eyes to the friction points in delivering advice, particularly the heavy administrative burden that can bog down the process. Searching for a way to mitigate these challenges, he transitioned into a tech role at Midwinter Financial Services, where he met his eventual co-founder, Alex Gasner.
This fusion of financial services expertise and technological acumen became a powerful combination: Josh acquired practical knowledge about compliance, ethics, and client outcomes, while building the engineering and leadership skills necessary to innovate. After a stint in New York, working in engineering leadership at a real estate startup, he returned to Australia, ready to bring his experiences to bear on the advice sector’s challenges.
The impetus to co-found Paradino was the observed disconnect between cost, complexity, and client demand in the financial advice space. Most Australians want or need quality financial guidance, yet the existing infrastructure and regulatory environment drive up costs and create bottlenecks. With AI now mature enough to offer sophisticated solutions—especially around text, audio, and data summarization—Josh and Alex saw an opportunity to build an “AI-first” product that automates back-office administration.
From the start, professionalism remained paramount. Building a tool that can reduce the time spent on administrative tasks creates space for deeper advisor-client relationships—provided the tool is robust, compliant, and ethically sound. Thus, Paradino was born with a clear directive: connect the back office and automate critical components of the advice process—starting with compliant file notes.
For many financial advisors, the file-note creation process is a significant pain point. Advisors often handle multiple meetings a day, each requiring detailed documentation to ensure compliance, facilitate follow-up actions, and maintain a clear client history. Generating well-structured file notes that capture all relevant details can be cumbersome, time-consuming, and prone to human error.
Paradino addresses this issue by turning recordings or voice memos into professional, accurate meeting summaries. Users simply upload an audio recording—or record directly within Paradino—and the platform’s AI automatically generates a draft file note. This note can be further edited to reflect any unique preferences or compliance guidelines. In mere minutes, an advisor has a nearly complete record of client or internal meetings.
Hybrid Meetings
Many modern advice practices find themselves conducting virtual, in-person, or hybrid client meetings. The ability to generate notes from any recorded conversation—be it an in-person session captured on a smartphone or a Zoom call—ensures no corner of client interactions remains undocumented. Even purely internal discussions, such as power planning meetings, can be captured and processed.
Voice Memos for Post-Meeting Recaps
Some professionals prefer to speak their notes immediately after a meeting rather than typing them out. Paradino supports these post-meeting voice memos, transcribing them into structured notes that can be edited and approved quickly. This approach is invaluable for advisors who think best verbally or who need to capture their impressions while details are still fresh.
Custom Templates
Upcoming custom templating functionality is especially relevant for advisors working under specific licensee conditions, which often mandate consistent note structures and inclusions. This feature reduces the possibility of errors or non-compliance, since the AI populates the template with conversation-specific details but remains guided by the adviser’s or licensee’s prescribed framework.
AI’s growing sophistication highlights ethical considerations that must guide its development and implementation, especially in an arena as sensitive as financial advice. Josh’s conversation with Patrick provides critical insights into Paradino’s approach to data security, confidentiality, and compliance.
As an “AI-first” platform, Paradino processes client meetings, some of which contain personal financial details. This demands the highest level of data security. According to Josh, Paradino hosts all data on Australian servers and employs multifactor authentication (MFA) for user logins. Recordings remain in the platform’s system for only 30 days, reducing the potential risk of long-term data exposure, while the final file notes remain stored to provide valuable future insights.
This approach underscores an ethical stance: data should be retained only for as long as it adds clear value to the client, while abiding by compliance and safeguarding obligations. Advisors remain free to export the notes and store them within their existing CRM, so they maintain ultimate control and visibility into how data is used.
No matter how slick or efficient a tool might be, it must operate within Australia’s stringent regulations for financial services. File notes often form part of a compliance audit trail, demonstrating that the advisor has taken into account a client’s circumstances, discussed relevant facts, and documented any disclosures and disclaimers.
AI can inadvertently introduce risk if it “hallucinates” or invents details. Therefore, Paradino’s framework encourages advisors to review and confirm the AI-generated summaries. The solution aims to remove the grunt work of drafting, but it does not remove final control from the advisor.
By balancing efficiency with a structured review process, Paradino ensures that advisors continue to meet their professional obligations and comply with relevant guidelines—offering a human-in-the-loop approach that maintains accountability.
While not every firm currently records client meetings, the growing popularity of Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other virtual solutions has normalized audio and video recordings. Nevertheless, it is ethically imperative that advisors disclose their intention to record and obtain client consent. This step maintains client trust and respects privacy expectations.
Paradino, therefore, serves as a tool that can deliver immense efficiency benefits—but the user must ensure the ethical precondition of informed consent is met. By integrating clear consent practices into their workflows, advisors sustain a professional culture that values client autonomy and comfort.
File notes are the proverbial “tip of the iceberg.” Paradino envisions a platform that continues to streamline the entire advice journey, from client onboarding through to the review stage and everything in between. Much of this involves:
Throughout these enhancements, human expertise remains essential for judgment calls, nuanced strategy decisions, and final compliance checks. The advisor’s ethical role does not diminish; instead, it is supported by automation that lifts the administrative burden.
One of the most exciting, ethically sound ways to use AI is to anticipate client needs and facilitate proactive communication. By analyzing client data—such as their stage of life, dependents, or investment objectives—AI can suggest well-timed engagement efforts:
In all these cases, ethical considerations around privacy, data usage, and consent remain front and center. An advisor must strike the right balance between personalization and respecting boundaries, maintaining an approach that genuinely serves client needs rather than bombarding them with unnecessary communications.
While the possibilities are exciting, technology misuse can quickly erode trust. Ethical pitfalls include:
Josh highlights that getting started with Paradino can be nearly instantaneous, especially if an advice firm is already recording client meetings. They can log into Paradino’s web-based or mobile platform, upload an existing audio file, and generate a draft file note in minutes. If they are new to recording, they can capture the meeting via Paradino’s built-in recording feature.
Custom Templates are also coming soon, allowing each firm to comply fully with its licensee-specific requirements. This is a major feature for practices that have invested in strict internal protocols. The fewer the post-processing tasks, the more time advisors reclaim for client-facing conversations.
Another major draw is the ability to maintain or integrate a “history” of all client conversations. While audio files only remain in Paradino’s servers for 30 days, the file notes themselves are saved indefinitely. This structured “conversation library” lays the groundwork for advanced analytics and machine learning insights in the future.
For many in financial services, the joy lies in strategy and relationship-building—understanding the client’s life aspirations, fears, and long-term goals, then tailoring suitable advice. Historically, mountains of paperwork, data entry, and repeated administrative tasks have bogged down advisors’ ability to engage in these higher-level functions. AI-based platforms can alleviate these burdens.
In a highly professional and ethical practice, freeing an advisor from repetitive tasks means they can dedicate more attention to education, empathy, and strategy—all critical components of real fiduciary service. The technology, therefore, becomes a genuine enabler of ethical behavior, provided it is implemented thoughtfully and monitored properly.
Part of remaining ethical and professional is the commitment to continuous improvement. By adopting AI carefully, advisors also demonstrate adaptive professionalism. Gone are the days when an advisor could learn a single system and rest on that knowledge. Professionals who stay updated on evolving technologies better serve their clients, reduce operating costs, and enhance the overall perception of the advice industry.
However, continuous improvement also means:
Josh shares that Paradino’s roadmap extends well beyond file-note automation. Two particularly exciting developments include:
As powerful as these developments may be, transparency remains essential. Clients have a right to know that their data is being used, stored, and analyzed in a safe, respectful manner. Advisors who fail to communicate these details may risk damaging trust, even if their processes remain strictly compliant. In an environment where trust is the bedrock of adviser-client relationships, clear consent and regular updates on how data is utilized become a non-negotiable ethical standard.
Ultimately, AI’s function is to augment the adviser, not replace them. Advisers draw on experience, interpersonal understanding, and regulatory knowledge that AI alone cannot replicate. Clients seek genuine human connections—nuanced conversations about life goals, dilemmas, and aspirations. Ethically deployed AI acts as a “force multiplier,” ensuring an advisor can remain fully present for these conversations, rather than drowning in back-office chores.
While Paradino offers one glimpse of AI’s capabilities, the broader landscape continues to expand. Other platforms offer different forms of automation—portfolio rebalancing, chatbots, compliance checks, and more. Regardless of the tool, there are overarching ethical and professional guidelines that every practitioner should keep in mind:
The conversation between Patrick Gardner and Paradino co-founder Josh Ratnarajah provides a fascinating glimpse into the near future of financial advice. Rather than succumbing to “analysis paralysis” over endless technology options, advisors can select solutions that align with their ethical commitments and operational needs—while also maintaining professional standards.
Paradino’s approach to using AI—starting with automating file notes and moving towards deeper workflow integrations—exemplifies how technology can be leveraged to lower the cost of providing quality advice without sacrificing the human element. By focusing on data security, compliance, and a user-friendly interface, Paradino underscores that innovation in financial services must always be grounded in privacy, security, and professionalism.
As AI continues to evolve, the bar for ethical implementation will only get higher. Advisors who stay informed, seek expert guidance when necessary, and remain transparent with clients will be well positioned to enjoy the benefits of AI without compromising their professional standards. In a landscape where clients demand both innovation and integrity, the savvy advisor will harness tools like Paradino to make financial planning more accessible, comprehensive, and genuinely client-centric.
In turn, more Australians will be able to receive high-quality financial advice, bridging the long-standing gap between market need and feasible supply. With thoughtful regulation and proactive compliance, AI holds the potential to transform financial advice into a more efficient, inclusive service, ultimately enabling clients to reach their goals with confidence.
By integrating emerging technologies with deeply held ethical and professional principles, advisors can navigate these changes confidently and deliver a new standard of excellence in financial planning—one that respects both the primacy of client well-being and the transformative power of well-applied AI.
Accreditation Points Allocation:
0.10 Technical Competence
0.10 Regulatory Compliance and Consumer Protection
0.20 Professionalism and Ethics
0.40 Total CPD Points