Financial services marketers: Your AI needs a core engine.

Most financial services marketers are disappointed with AI. Is it because they’re missing a key component?

by Larry Black & Al Collins

Is there a problem with AI for financial services marketing?

As heads of a digital agency and a consultancy focused on the financial services sector, we can tell you the marketers we speak with are ... underwhelmed, so far. In their view, ever more powerful AI tools are generating ever less compelling content – frequently off-brand and non-compliant, to boot. These supposedly advanced AI systems don’t ‘know’ the marketer’s positioning or strategies – and they don’t help CMOs or CROs connect AI outputs to growth outcomes.

If AI is so smart, more than one marketer has quipped, why doesn’t it understand my business?

We believe the problem isn’t a failure of AI per se – it’s a failure to infuse AI with the necessary strategic direction, and brand and business knowledge, to make AI-generated content and messaging an effective component of marketing, communications and sales efforts.

We also believe we have solved this problem for financial services, with Wheelhouse: a strategic AI solution that embeds strategy, brand voice, compliance and other essential ingredients into all AI outputs. The result is AI that is intentional, aligned and growth-focused: AI that serves as a truly valuable strategic asset in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

The scourge of AI slop

Financial services firms face distinct challenges:

Complex products and extended sales cycles:
Buying committees demand substance with specific information tailored to their roles and interests – not just superficial, generic messaging.
Strict compliance requirements:
Every word must be scrutinized to ensure adherence to legal and regulatory standards.
Pressure to demonstrate ROI:
Marketing and sales executives need to show every dollar invested has an impact on growth.

Against this backdrop, generic AI falls short, proficiently creating what is commonly referred to as “AI slop”: low-quality outputs that superficially resemble useful content but fail to convey meaningful substance.

In financial services marketing, AI slop is characterized by bland, repetitive messaging that could apply to any company in any industry; inaccurate or risky claims that ignore regulatory and compliance requirements; off-brand tone that weakens credibility with clients and prospects; and content volume without value, flooding channels with noise that doesn‘t connect to growth.

AI slop is more than an annoyance: It’s a reputation and compliance risk. It undermines trust, wastes time and money and reinforces skepticism about AI’s value.

Not surprisingly, according to management consultancy BCG, “74% of firms struggle to achieve and scale value from their AI initiatives.” The missing piece is strategy, embedded at the core of the AI system and supported by sophisticated orchestration that securely manages multiple data sources and AI capabilities. Without these essential elements, AI increases risk without adding value.

The core engine in real-world scenarios

Let‘s take a closer look at how strategic AI and a core engine address just a few of the common challenges financial services marketers face.

	Without Strategic AI	With Strategic AI
A competitor launches a new product	Weeks or months to analyze the threat, draft new positioning, update materials, and train sales.	Monitors markets, detects the launch, drafts comparison messaging and FAQs, and distributes updated marketing messages and sales tools – all within hours.
Brand tracking survey yields important results	Annual brand surveys sit idle or take months to filter into campaigns.	Ingests results instantly, surfaces insights, and recommends campaign adjustments in real time.
Personalized, compliant sales enablement	Sales waits weeks for marketing to deliver customized pitch decks or client updates.	CRM data combines with brand-approved messaging to instantly generate compliant, personalized materials.
Compliance alignment	Every piece of content goes through lengthy manual review.	AI outputs are checked automatically for brand voice and regulatory compliance before final human sign-off.

Welcome to the Age of Relevance

It took a few years, but we’ve reached the point where marketing professionals are comfortable with the idea of generative AI content and messaging. But generative very much does not mean generic. The firms that thrive in this new era won‘t be the ones that churn out the most AI-generated content. They’ll be the ones that create the most relevant AI-generated content, delivering value for customers and driving growth, compliance and trust.