Smart Planning with AI: Real-World Strategies with Chris Benson - AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)

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[00:01]
Kari Sinnett
AI is changing everything about how we work, from research and analysis to client communication. The question isn't if it will shape your practice, but how ready you are to harness it. Welcome to the AICPA's Personal Financial Planning Podcast. I'm Kari Sinnett. As the manager of the PFS designation, the financial planning credential exclusively available to CPAs and my role is to keep you informed, educated and connected to a premier community of thought leaders delivering trusted financial planning. We explore the full range of planning topics and current events shaping our profession. If you're an advisor, a CPA financial planner, or simply want an inside look at today's topic of bringing AI into your financial planning practice, this podcast is for you. Today's guest is Chris Benson who leads the financial planning practice at LK Benson & Company. Kris blends deep tax expertise with practical real world advice and has spent his career helping clients navigate their full financial picture. Chris, welcome to the.
[01:17]
Chris Benson
Show. Thanks for having.
[01:18]
Kari Sinnett
Me. So Chris, what first sparked your curiosity about AI and how did you begin experimenting with it in your daily.
[01:28]
Chris Benson
Life? I have always been very curious about technology. I've always been very tech forward, I guess you would call it. You know, I'm not the kind of person who does things the same way just because we've always done them that way. I'm always looking for a better way to do things and technology kind of opens up that door. So when I first heard about AI, obviously I was curious and I've been reading about it for many years and There was that ChatGPT moment back in late 2022 where ChatGPT kind of exploded in the marketplace and everybody got out there and started playing with it. And I tested it out just like everybody else and played with it some and it was impressive, but it wasn't immediately kind of visible as to how it's going to change things or how we're going to use it on a day to day basis. So I think initially it was more a cautious kind of approach to it and how can I use this? And I had to try to force myself initially to use it more. I think it's almost a mind shift change. You're so much of what you do, you just default to probably Google. Most people are going to Google to search for things anytime you have a question or something. They're on Google all day, every day. And using AI instead and going to one of the Chat, whether it's ChatGPT or Perplexity or Gemini, all these different tools out there, you kind of have to force Yourself. Okay, instead of Googling this, I'm going to go see what they have to say. And that's where I started, I think is just moving those Google searches into an AI and then you start to see how much more it can do. So it's not just a search feature where it brings up a bunch of links. It actually answers the question for you and then you challenge it and you ask it more questions and you learn from it. So I think that's where I started a lot of personal things, things that you do in Google for home repairs. I will now take a picture of something and upload it and ask how do I do this? Or how do I fix this? Or planning vacations. And there's just so many things that you use it for on a personal basis before you even think about how it's going to transform your work.
[03:31]
Kari Sinnett
Life. You know, Chris, it's feeling like 1999 again where this new technology everybody really understands. And of course back then it was the Internet, but everybody understands this will be game changing. But we're not sure exactly how does it change the game. Is it pets.com or is it Amazon? And how we integrate that into our lives for a CPA financial planner is going to be crucial. And it sounds like you're already two steps ahead. You've now moved from just asking a question. And here are the links for an answer to you get a more robust question. And here's what I heard you say, challenging that question, having a dialogue with the AI to get an even deeper understanding. Did I hear you right on.
[04:26]
Chris Benson
That? Yeah, I think that the way I use it now is not just to ask a question, but to brainstorm, to, you know, think of ideas. So as a CPA financial planner, I think, you know, what we really do is we are pulling together pieces from all these different areas of our clients lives. You're looking at their taxes, we're doing the tax planning, we look at their investments, we're pulling in their investment management, the estate planning, the insurance planning, all these different kind of pieces and we have to see it all. So we're generalists in the broad sense of the word. I mean, we might have a lot of deep expertise in one area or another, but we can't be an expert in everything. AI kind of is an expert in everything. It may not be correct about everything quite yet, but it's getting there. And what it can really do is help us pull all those different things together and make us as we're working through a client situation. It'll Imagine a world where it pulls in the investment piece while you're looking at the tax return and reminds you about something, and it's not always going to be right. And you're going to have to question, well, that doesn't sound right. And maybe what about this? Have you thought about this? There's still a human brain, I think, that can override some of that AI at times, and I don't know if eventually we get to the point where it doesn't. But right now I think you just have to try to use it to the best of its abilities and continue to grow with.
[05:48]
Kari Sinnett
It. So it sounds like you have a partner in putting the puzzle together, somebody who can quickly find the corners, if you will, of the jigsaw puzzle and the edges and maybe even have an idea of what the end picture is going to look like and offer up ideas. Chris, when you look at your just a regular day as a CPA financial planner, where do you see the biggest opportunities for AI to make your work more effective or maybe even more.
[06:19]
Chris Benson
Enjoyable? I think it can do both. I think it can be more effective, it can be more enjoyable. We can probably work with more clients in the future because, you know, it's easier to answer, you know, something that I might have had to take 2, 3, 4 hours to research and really understand a topic to get back to a client on. It can now be done in 30 minutes. And maybe my AI helper is putting together a first draft of that client communication. So, you know, a lot of what we do, we, we get questions from clients about various things, and a lot of these things we know what the answer is off the top of our head and we can answer it quickly. A lot of these other things we don't know right off the top of our head because again, we can't, we can't know everything about everything. So a lot of times I get a client email and I'll copy and paste it and ask AI, what do you think about this? How would you respond to this? And I'll see what it comes up with. And oftentimes I disagree or I think of something else the way I would have responded to it. And I say, well, what about this? Did you think about this? And then it goes and does some more research and comes back to me. And again, in that way, it's really like having a colleague. We're a very small firm. A lot of CPAs, I think, work in small firms. So I don't have 100 other colleagues in my firm that I can sit down with and bounce ideas off with. I have study groups, I have people that I work with and that are helpful with that. But on a day to day basis, it's really great to have some person, whether that's AI or you know, in this case, to bounce ideas off of and to challenge me and to challenge.
[07:54]
Kari Sinnett
It. Okay. I love the idea of an AI intern, let's call it, but an intern who really knows their resources and how to pull things together. It sounds like you treat AI like that kind of colleague at work, maybe a really smart intern who is getting the job done. Can you walk us through some of the ways you're using it now? You, you mentioned brainstorming ideas and I assume some research and it sounds like you're even using it to support client communications. Like when they send in a question or something like that. Tell me more about these different areas. Does it speed up your time or are you taking more time because you have to have a dialogue with your AI.
[08:43]
Chris Benson
Colleagues? I think it speeds up the time, but I guess what you can get stuck doing is going down a deep rabbit hole, just as you can with any kind of research. So you have a research topic and you could give a surface level response to what the client is asking, or you could dig deeper and really understand it and learn about it more. And that's what happens sometimes with the AI as you, you get going into a topic and you really learn a lot about it. I do use it for some client communication. I generally like to write everything myself, but it'll at least give me kind of a first draft or maybe I will drop something in there and it'll give me discussion topic ideas or points. Say, you know, you can frame your prompt to the AI and say, I don't want you to write an email to the client, but I want you to frame their question to me and give me some thoughts on how I could respond. And then I go in and I respond to the client. We use it again. Research. There's a lot of research you can do. Some of, there's some tax specific research tools, AI research tools out there that are more trained on actual regulations and irs, you know, the code sections as opposed to general AI, which might be looking at Reddit boards and things like that to learn. So you have to be careful of what you're using when you look at research and always check sources and check and double check things. I've had IT run some analysis. So you know clients looking at past history of a private equity fund that they owned and the cash flows coming in and out, and what was the real return and what would that return have looked like if they had just put it into this fund instead? And again, like an intern, you know, there you can ask it to run a spreadsheet and develop a spreadsheet that, that analyzes this for you, as opposed to having an intern do it for me. Again, with the caution that you always have to check and double check these things and you can't trust everything that comes out of it. But there's a lot that it can do and it continues to get better. I mean, where it was a year ago, six months ago, compared to where it is now is pretty wild to see the improvements every time I go in and use.
[10:49]
Kari Sinnett
It. Absolutely. So here's what really gets me. The pace of the change in AI, I'm just going to be honest here, feels overwhelming and it's hard to keep up with. What's the latest and greatest AI and which one do you choose? How do you use it? So how do you decide what's worth paying attention to? What you can kind of safely ignore, especially when you're evaluating the fit for your particular practice, maybe some of the risks, but really at the end of the day, the ROI on if I'm going to spend some money on AI, what's my return? How do you decide those.
[11:29]
Chris Benson
Things? I think that's a challenge, especially not just the pace of change in the existing AI tools, but all of the new tools that are being built and coming out on a regular basis. You know, every software that you can think of right now, there's probably an AI version of it either being built or already out there in early stages. I don't think that there's an easy answer to the question of how you keep up with it all. You know, I think you need to not jump into things too quickly. So new software comes out. I tend to have, we call it shiny object syndrome, where if I see something new and interesting, I want to jump right in. And, you know, sometimes I can kind of satisfy that curiosity just by doing a quick demo demo of the tool I just did. Last week, I did two demos of new AI tax software programs and learned pretty quickly that they look great and they can do some pretty cool things, but they're not quite to the point where they can replace some of our existing tools. So I kind of go through that demo, it's half an hour of my time and I set it aside and maybe again in six months to a year, I look at it again and see if maybe it's an option. So I think it's being cautious. I think from a cost standpoint, I mean the AI tools themselves are incredibly inexpensive for what you get out of them. I mean ChatGPT, you can get a pro subscription for $20 a month. That's kind of a no brainer. Gemini, if you already use Google as built in, you know, there's no reason not to try not just one of these tools but multiple. I use perplexity, I use ChatGPT, I've tested out. Claude, you know, there's so many different things out there that you can play around with that are not going to cost you an arm and a leg. So there's really no harm in trying them and keeping up with things. And I follow a lot of the tech gurus, I guess you could call them in the industry and read articles and I'm constantly kind of watching to see what's coming out there. You can follow Reddit boards, there's the TaxPros board on Reddit. People are always testing things out. You can see what people are using there and what's working for them. But I always take a very cautious approach as the as to adding something new to the.
[13:43]
Kari Sinnett
Practice. Brilliant. And if you want to dive deeper, I think we're going to have an opportunity in January. Chris, you probably know about this already. The AICPA PfP Personal Financial Planning Symposium is going to happen January 21st through the 23rd in San Diego. And I know that location just sounds, you know, a rough place to be in January where I'm hearing Dan Snyder is guaranteeing 75 degree weather, so it should be pretty amazing. I do know though that they are going to be diving deep into AI and if you're listening and you want to go to that, there's an early bird special if you decide to sign up prior to November 17th. So check that out at the AICPA website if that is meaningful to you. Chris, looking ahead, what excites you most about how AI can transform client work? And let's balance that out. What keeps you up at night when you think about the.
[14:53]
Chris Benson
Risks? Well, I'll start with the downside, the negative, and then we'll talk about the positive. I think that there are a lot of risks and there are a lot of things that you have to think about and be careful about with AI. Just first of all from your own practice, you have to understand the compliance side of things. You can't be uploading client personal information into these tools. You have to understand the privacy Rules and what you can and can't do. You know, there's a lot of. We didn't talk about specific tools, but the one area where I see a lot of people kind of jumping in headfirst is these AI note taking tools. You've seen them on every meeting you've probably been in where somebody has an AI tool that's recording the meeting and taking notes. And there are some very good financial advisor tools out there that do this. And I've been playing around with them too. But you have to be aware of the compliance risks there. But aside from the compliance risk, I think what scares me more about AI is the cybersecurity risks. Will AI be able to hack into accounts more easily? They can already impersonate people. You can get a phone call that looks like it's from a.
[16:01]
Kari Sinnett
Client. And to everybody listening, I just have to say right here, since Chris brought it up, impersonating people, I'm looking at Chris. This appears to be him, it sounds like him. And the image is perfectly Chris. And so I'm going to assume, although I haven't verified for sure, that Chris, you are not AI currently, is that.
[16:21]
Chris Benson
Right? That is correct. I am not AI. However, I could have sent my AI avatar in here and you probably wouldn't have known the.
[16:28]
Kari Sinnett
Difference. Right. How are we going to know the difference in the future and how do we keep an eye out for that? I guess we're going to have to have some sort of electronic handshake so that we make sure that we're both the real people that we're talking to or official agents. If we are directing our AI, how are we going to be able to discern Chris? And this is probably the biggest thing where AI really helps us in our practice in a practical way. And just as you kind of mentioned earlier, what are the shiny things that look interesting but maybe not in that practical level? Do we take baby steps into it or do we dive into the deep end of the.
[17:12]
Chris Benson
Pool? Yeah, I think, I think baby steps are fine at this point. I don't, I don't think you ever want to jump all the way in and you're not going to completely revamp your practice. You know, there's a lot of promises made by AI companies and you hear about in the media about how everything's going to change overnight. Just kind of. I always think back to what we heard about autonomous vehicles and self driving cars. And I remember I bought a car over 10 years ago and was told I'd never buy another car like that again, because they were all, every car was going to be self driving by now. Well, 10 years later we're not there. But we're getting pretty close and it's taken a lot longer than I thought it would but we're getting close to that and I think that's what AI is going to look like. It's going to take time to really transform things, but I think in the future it can transform things for both the bad and the good. And we have to be careful on the bad. And there's, you know, I don't have the solution to the fraud or the impersonation question right now. I know you have to be extra careful. You have to make sure if you get an email you're not just responding and transferring money. You have to check, double check, recheck, call, do whatever you have to do to try to be cautious there. But I also think that the positives eventually. I'm generally an optimistic person by nature and I think on technology, I'm certainly a techno optimist I guess is what you would call it. Where I can see, I can see, you know, I don't know what the future holds, but I could see ways that it could evolve and really improve everything we do. If you think of what you do on a day to day basis, you're probably in software, some kind of software program. If you're doing tax work, you're doing, you're in a tax return and preparing a return or reviewing a return. Think about what it would be like if you could talk to that program and all of a sudden it could pull insights for you. And you see, you're reviewing a return and you see income higher than last year in a certain area and instead of having to dig down and figure out what somebody input, all of a sudden it's just telling you here's where that came from, here's why it came from there. What's it going to look like next year? Just every single program I use I think about, man, it could really be a lot better if we had AI baked into this. And I think that's eventually where we'll be. But it's going to take.
[19:27]
Kari Sinnett
Time. Chris, I'm going to try to join you in your techno optimism. I like the idea of kind of really taking those baby steps and seeing how I can just pare down some of the monotonous tasks that I do. Brainstorm with AI Love that. And challenging AI on the answers that they give us in order to really explore deeper. Thank you so much for sharing with our community of listeners. I think this is going to be deeply helpful as they engage with AI as to what to look for, what could be beneficial, and what to watch out for. And if you're an advisor right now listening who wants to deliver premier financial planning with confidence, you can explore everything the AICPA PFP section has to offer@aicpa.org Pfp including topics like AI, how to use it, what's a great way to look at and evaluate. For 269 a year, AICPA members get access to a library of technical guidance, webcast planning tools, and expert insights like Chris's, all designed to help you serve your clients at the highest level. If you're a CPA with 3,000 hours of financial planning experience already, consider showing your expertise next to your name by obtaining the PFS credential@aicpa.org PFS this is our podcast together and if this episode helped you in your practice, we'd be grateful if you shared it with your professional community. With almost half a million downloads so far, the AICPA PFP podcast is helping to advance the profession one listener at a time. This has been Carrie Sinnett for the AICPA Personal Financial Planning Division. Thanks for listening and until next time, keep earning trust through clarity, guiding with compassion, and delivering premier planning that elevates our.
[21:37]
Podcast Disclaimer Narrator
Profession. This content is designed to provide illustrative information with respect to the subject matter covered and does not represent an official opinion or position of the aicpa, the association, or cima. It is provided with the understanding that they are not engaged in offering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If such advice or expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. The aicpa, the association and SEMA make no representations, warranties or guarantees as to, and assume no responsibility for the content or application of the material contained herein, and especially disclaim all liability for any damages arising out of the use of, reference to, or reliance on such material.

Summary5 min read

Podcast Summary: "Smart Planning with AI: Real-World Strategies with Chris Benson"

Podcast: AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)
Host: Kari Sinnett, AICPA & CIMA
Guest: Chris Benson, LK Benson & Company
Release Date: November 14, 2025
Episode Theme: Exploring how financial planners can leverage AI for smarter, more efficient, and enjoyable client service—with a focus on practical real-world strategies, risks, and the evolving AI landscape.

Episode Overview

In this episode, Kari Sinnett sits down with Chris Benson, a tech-forward CPA and financial planner, to discuss his hands-on experiences incorporating AI into daily financial planning work. Chris shares how his experimental mindset has helped him use AI as an "intern" and colleague, accelerating research, brainstorming, and client communication, while also addressing tangible risks and the need for compliance vigilance.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Initial Curiosity and Mindset Shift Toward AI (00:28 – 04:26)

Chris Benson’s Entry Point: Chris has always been curious about technology, but the rise of ChatGPT in 2022 was a pivotal moment. Initially, he had to consciously force himself to try AI tools instead of his old defaults, like Google searches.
Quote:

"It's almost a mind shift change. ...Instead of Googling this, I'm going to go see what [AI tools] have to say." (Chris Benson, 02:30)
Personal Use Precedes Professional Use: Chris started by using AI for personal tasks—home repair, vacation planning—before translating those practices to his professional life.

2. AI as a Collaborative Partner in Financial Planning (04:26 – 07:54)

AI as a Brainstorming Partner: Chris likens AI to a colleague or "very smart intern" that helps piece together complex aspects of client situations (tax, investments, estate, insurance).
Enhanced Efficiency: AI streamlines research-heavy scenarios, reducing turnaround times for complex client questions from hours to minutes.
Quote:

"[AI] can now be done in 30 minutes. And maybe my AI helper is putting together a first draft of that client communication." (Chris Benson, 06:32)
Importance of Human Judgment: AI’s suggestions need to be challenged and refined with a professional’s critical thinking.

3. Real-World Use Cases and Workflow Enhancements (07:54 – 10:49)

Drafting & Brainstorming Client Communications: Chris uses AI to generate draft responses or topic ideas, although he prefers to personalize final communications himself.
Research & Analysis: Specialized AI tools trained on tax codes can assist with technical research. Generic AI tools are cross-verified due to the risk of incorrect or unsubstantiated answers.
Data Analysis & Spreadsheets: AI generates analyses (e.g., evaluating private equity fund returns) and builds spreadsheets, much like an intern might—always requiring review.

4. Evaluating New AI Tools & Staying Current (10:49 – 13:42)

Managing Overwhelm: Chris acknowledges the relentless pace of AI innovation and the prevalence of “shiny object syndrome.”
Practical Evaluation: He frequently demos new tools, and if they aren’t yet superior to current processes, he revisits them later.
Quote:

"I tend to have, we call it shiny object syndrome, where if I see something new and interesting, I want to jump right in." (Chris Benson, 12:03)
Affordability & Experimentation: Many tools are low-cost (e.g., ChatGPT Pro at $20/month), encouraging safe experimentation, but full adoption is only after careful vetting.

5. Opportunities, Risks, and Ethical Considerations (14:52 – 19:26)

Biggest Risks:
- Compliance: Vigilance is required around client data privacy when using AI tools.
- Cybersecurity & Impersonation: Risk that AI can be used for fraud (e.g., “deepfake” voices or avatars).
- Quote:
  
  “You can get a phone call that looks like it’s from a client...I could have sent my AI avatar in here and you probably wouldn't have known the difference.” (Chris Benson, 16:00 & 16:27)
Mitigation Strategies: Always verify sensitive communications through multiple channels.
Adoption Approach: Smart to take "baby steps" rather than overhaul processes overnight; radical shifts rarely happen as quickly as the media implies.
Techno-Optimism for the Future: Chris is optimistic; he envisions AI deeply integrated in workflow software—delivering relevant real-time insights, making programs smarter and processes more intuitive.
Quote:

"Every single program I use I think about, man, it could really be a lot better if we had AI baked into this." (Chris Benson, 19:16)

6. Practical Advice for CPAs & Financial Planners (Throughout)

Start Small: Begin with easy-to-use, low-risk AI tools.
Challenge & Verify: Don’t blindly trust outputs; always apply professional judgment.
Prioritize Compliance: Never upload sensitive client data into general AI tools unless clear on privacy guarantees.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

"AI kind of is an expert in everything. It may not be correct about everything quite yet, but it's getting there."
— Chris Benson (04:49)
"It's really great to have some person, whether that's AI or...in this case, to bounce ideas off of and to challenge me and to challenge it."
— Chris Benson (07:22)
"The AI tools themselves are incredibly inexpensive for what you get out of them."
— Chris Benson (12:46)
"The positives...I could see ways that [AI] could evolve and really improve everything we do...But it's going to take time."
— Chris Benson (19:16)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|-------------------------------------------------------| | 00:28 | Chris Benson describes his first approach to AI | | 04:26 | AI as a collaborative brainstorming partner | | 06:18 | Efficiency gains and practical use cases | | 08:42 | AI’s help in drafting and research | | 10:49 | Overcoming tech overwhelm and choosing tools | | 14:52 | Risks: compliance, cybersecurity, and fraud concerns | | 17:11 | Incremental adoption vs. radical transformation | | 19:16 | Future optimism: AI baked into workflow software |

Tone & Language

The conversation is practical, optimistic, and frank—acknowledging both enthusiasm for AI’s potential and caution toward its risks. Chris’s advice is down-to-earth, reflecting real-world trial and error rather than hype. Kari supports a forward-thinking, yet measured, approach for advisors.

Takeaways for Financial Planners

AI can be a powerful aid for research, brainstorming, and routine analysis, especially for solo practitioners or small firms.
Adoption should be incremental: experiment with general tools, keep an eye on compliance, and assess both the utility and risks before fully integrating any new AI software.
Stay informed but not overwhelmed—pick trusted sources, try demos, and re-evaluate periodically.
Human expertise and critical thinking remain irreplaceable, especially in client-facing settings.

For more resources on AI and financial planning, explore the AICPA PFP community and consider attending their upcoming symposium for deeper dives into these topics.

Loading summary

Transcript20 lines

[00:01]
Kari Sinnett
AI is changing everything about how we work, from research and analysis to client communication. The question isn't if it will shape your practice, but how ready you are to harness it. Welcome to the AICPA's Personal Financial Planning Podcast. I'm Kari Sinnett. As the manager of the PFS designation, the financial planning credential exclusively available to CPAs and my role is to keep you informed, educated and connected to a premier community of thought leaders delivering trusted financial planning. We explore the full range of planning topics and current events shaping our profession. If you're an advisor, a CPA financial planner, or simply want an inside look at today's topic of bringing AI into your financial planning practice, this podcast is for you. Today's guest is Chris Benson who leads the financial planning practice at LK Benson & Company. Kris blends deep tax expertise with practical real world advice and has spent his career helping clients navigate their full financial picture. Chris, welcome to the.
[01:17]
Chris Benson
Show. Thanks for having.
[01:18]
Kari Sinnett
Me. So Chris, what first sparked your curiosity about AI and how did you begin experimenting with it in your daily.
[01:28]
Chris Benson
Life? I have always been very curious about technology. I've always been very tech forward, I guess you would call it. You know, I'm not the kind of person who does things the same way just because we've always done them that way. I'm always looking for a better way to do things and technology kind of opens up that door. So when I first heard about AI, obviously I was curious and I've been reading about it for many years and There was that ChatGPT moment back in late 2022 where ChatGPT kind of exploded in the marketplace and everybody got out there and started playing with it. And I tested it out just like everybody else and played with it some and it was impressive, but it wasn't immediately kind of visible as to how it's going to change things or how we're going to use it on a day to day basis. So I think initially it was more a cautious kind of approach to it and how can I use this? And I had to try to force myself initially to use it more. I think it's almost a mind shift change. You're so much of what you do, you just default to probably Google. Most people are going to Google to search for things anytime you have a question or something. They're on Google all day, every day. And using AI instead and going to one of the Chat, whether it's ChatGPT or Perplexity or Gemini, all these different tools out there, you kind of have to force Yourself. Okay, instead of Googling this, I'm going to go see what they have to say. And that's where I started, I think is just moving those Google searches into an AI and then you start to see how much more it can do. So it's not just a search feature where it brings up a bunch of links. It actually answers the question for you and then you challenge it and you ask it more questions and you learn from it. So I think that's where I started a lot of personal things, things that you do in Google for home repairs. I will now take a picture of something and upload it and ask how do I do this? Or how do I fix this? Or planning vacations. And there's just so many things that you use it for on a personal basis before you even think about how it's going to transform your work.
[03:31]
Kari Sinnett
Life. You know, Chris, it's feeling like 1999 again where this new technology everybody really understands. And of course back then it was the Internet, but everybody understands this will be game changing. But we're not sure exactly how does it change the game. Is it pets.com or is it Amazon? And how we integrate that into our lives for a CPA financial planner is going to be crucial. And it sounds like you're already two steps ahead. You've now moved from just asking a question. And here are the links for an answer to you get a more robust question. And here's what I heard you say, challenging that question, having a dialogue with the AI to get an even deeper understanding. Did I hear you right on.
[04:26]
Chris Benson
That? Yeah, I think that the way I use it now is not just to ask a question, but to brainstorm, to, you know, think of ideas. So as a CPA financial planner, I think, you know, what we really do is we are pulling together pieces from all these different areas of our clients lives. You're looking at their taxes, we're doing the tax planning, we look at their investments, we're pulling in their investment management, the estate planning, the insurance planning, all these different kind of pieces and we have to see it all. So we're generalists in the broad sense of the word. I mean, we might have a lot of deep expertise in one area or another, but we can't be an expert in everything. AI kind of is an expert in everything. It may not be correct about everything quite yet, but it's getting there. And what it can really do is help us pull all those different things together and make us as we're working through a client situation. It'll Imagine a world where it pulls in the investment piece while you're looking at the tax return and reminds you about something, and it's not always going to be right. And you're going to have to question, well, that doesn't sound right. And maybe what about this? Have you thought about this? There's still a human brain, I think, that can override some of that AI at times, and I don't know if eventually we get to the point where it doesn't. But right now I think you just have to try to use it to the best of its abilities and continue to grow with.
[05:48]
Kari Sinnett
It. So it sounds like you have a partner in putting the puzzle together, somebody who can quickly find the corners, if you will, of the jigsaw puzzle and the edges and maybe even have an idea of what the end picture is going to look like and offer up ideas. Chris, when you look at your just a regular day as a CPA financial planner, where do you see the biggest opportunities for AI to make your work more effective or maybe even more.
[06:19]
Chris Benson
Enjoyable? I think it can do both. I think it can be more effective, it can be more enjoyable. We can probably work with more clients in the future because, you know, it's easier to answer, you know, something that I might have had to take 2, 3, 4 hours to research and really understand a topic to get back to a client on. It can now be done in 30 minutes. And maybe my AI helper is putting together a first draft of that client communication. So, you know, a lot of what we do, we, we get questions from clients about various things, and a lot of these things we know what the answer is off the top of our head and we can answer it quickly. A lot of these other things we don't know right off the top of our head because again, we can't, we can't know everything about everything. So a lot of times I get a client email and I'll copy and paste it and ask AI, what do you think about this? How would you respond to this? And I'll see what it comes up with. And oftentimes I disagree or I think of something else the way I would have responded to it. And I say, well, what about this? Did you think about this? And then it goes and does some more research and comes back to me. And again, in that way, it's really like having a colleague. We're a very small firm. A lot of CPAs, I think, work in small firms. So I don't have 100 other colleagues in my firm that I can sit down with and bounce ideas off with. I have study groups, I have people that I work with and that are helpful with that. But on a day to day basis, it's really great to have some person, whether that's AI or you know, in this case, to bounce ideas off of and to challenge me and to challenge.
[07:54]
Kari Sinnett
It. Okay. I love the idea of an AI intern, let's call it, but an intern who really knows their resources and how to pull things together. It sounds like you treat AI like that kind of colleague at work, maybe a really smart intern who is getting the job done. Can you walk us through some of the ways you're using it now? You, you mentioned brainstorming ideas and I assume some research and it sounds like you're even using it to support client communications. Like when they send in a question or something like that. Tell me more about these different areas. Does it speed up your time or are you taking more time because you have to have a dialogue with your AI.
[08:43]
Chris Benson
Colleagues? I think it speeds up the time, but I guess what you can get stuck doing is going down a deep rabbit hole, just as you can with any kind of research. So you have a research topic and you could give a surface level response to what the client is asking, or you could dig deeper and really understand it and learn about it more. And that's what happens sometimes with the AI as you, you get going into a topic and you really learn a lot about it. I do use it for some client communication. I generally like to write everything myself, but it'll at least give me kind of a first draft or maybe I will drop something in there and it'll give me discussion topic ideas or points. Say, you know, you can frame your prompt to the AI and say, I don't want you to write an email to the client, but I want you to frame their question to me and give me some thoughts on how I could respond. And then I go in and I respond to the client. We use it again. Research. There's a lot of research you can do. Some of, there's some tax specific research tools, AI research tools out there that are more trained on actual regulations and irs, you know, the code sections as opposed to general AI, which might be looking at Reddit boards and things like that to learn. So you have to be careful of what you're using when you look at research and always check sources and check and double check things. I've had IT run some analysis. So you know clients looking at past history of a private equity fund that they owned and the cash flows coming in and out, and what was the real return and what would that return have looked like if they had just put it into this fund instead? And again, like an intern, you know, there you can ask it to run a spreadsheet and develop a spreadsheet that, that analyzes this for you, as opposed to having an intern do it for me. Again, with the caution that you always have to check and double check these things and you can't trust everything that comes out of it. But there's a lot that it can do and it continues to get better. I mean, where it was a year ago, six months ago, compared to where it is now is pretty wild to see the improvements every time I go in and use.
[10:49]
Kari Sinnett
It. Absolutely. So here's what really gets me. The pace of the change in AI, I'm just going to be honest here, feels overwhelming and it's hard to keep up with. What's the latest and greatest AI and which one do you choose? How do you use it? So how do you decide what's worth paying attention to? What you can kind of safely ignore, especially when you're evaluating the fit for your particular practice, maybe some of the risks, but really at the end of the day, the ROI on if I'm going to spend some money on AI, what's my return? How do you decide those.
[11:29]
Chris Benson
Things? I think that's a challenge, especially not just the pace of change in the existing AI tools, but all of the new tools that are being built and coming out on a regular basis. You know, every software that you can think of right now, there's probably an AI version of it either being built or already out there in early stages. I don't think that there's an easy answer to the question of how you keep up with it all. You know, I think you need to not jump into things too quickly. So new software comes out. I tend to have, we call it shiny object syndrome, where if I see something new and interesting, I want to jump right in. And, you know, sometimes I can kind of satisfy that curiosity just by doing a quick demo demo of the tool I just did. Last week, I did two demos of new AI tax software programs and learned pretty quickly that they look great and they can do some pretty cool things, but they're not quite to the point where they can replace some of our existing tools. So I kind of go through that demo, it's half an hour of my time and I set it aside and maybe again in six months to a year, I look at it again and see if maybe it's an option. So I think it's being cautious. I think from a cost standpoint, I mean the AI tools themselves are incredibly inexpensive for what you get out of them. I mean ChatGPT, you can get a pro subscription for $20 a month. That's kind of a no brainer. Gemini, if you already use Google as built in, you know, there's no reason not to try not just one of these tools but multiple. I use perplexity, I use ChatGPT, I've tested out. Claude, you know, there's so many different things out there that you can play around with that are not going to cost you an arm and a leg. So there's really no harm in trying them and keeping up with things. And I follow a lot of the tech gurus, I guess you could call them in the industry and read articles and I'm constantly kind of watching to see what's coming out there. You can follow Reddit boards, there's the TaxPros board on Reddit. People are always testing things out. You can see what people are using there and what's working for them. But I always take a very cautious approach as the as to adding something new to the.
[13:43]
Kari Sinnett
Practice. Brilliant. And if you want to dive deeper, I think we're going to have an opportunity in January. Chris, you probably know about this already. The AICPA PfP Personal Financial Planning Symposium is going to happen January 21st through the 23rd in San Diego. And I know that location just sounds, you know, a rough place to be in January where I'm hearing Dan Snyder is guaranteeing 75 degree weather, so it should be pretty amazing. I do know though that they are going to be diving deep into AI and if you're listening and you want to go to that, there's an early bird special if you decide to sign up prior to November 17th. So check that out at the AICPA website if that is meaningful to you. Chris, looking ahead, what excites you most about how AI can transform client work? And let's balance that out. What keeps you up at night when you think about the.
[14:53]
Chris Benson
Risks? Well, I'll start with the downside, the negative, and then we'll talk about the positive. I think that there are a lot of risks and there are a lot of things that you have to think about and be careful about with AI. Just first of all from your own practice, you have to understand the compliance side of things. You can't be uploading client personal information into these tools. You have to understand the privacy Rules and what you can and can't do. You know, there's a lot of. We didn't talk about specific tools, but the one area where I see a lot of people kind of jumping in headfirst is these AI note taking tools. You've seen them on every meeting you've probably been in where somebody has an AI tool that's recording the meeting and taking notes. And there are some very good financial advisor tools out there that do this. And I've been playing around with them too. But you have to be aware of the compliance risks there. But aside from the compliance risk, I think what scares me more about AI is the cybersecurity risks. Will AI be able to hack into accounts more easily? They can already impersonate people. You can get a phone call that looks like it's from a.
[16:01]
Kari Sinnett
Client. And to everybody listening, I just have to say right here, since Chris brought it up, impersonating people, I'm looking at Chris. This appears to be him, it sounds like him. And the image is perfectly Chris. And so I'm going to assume, although I haven't verified for sure, that Chris, you are not AI currently, is that.
[16:21]
Chris Benson
Right? That is correct. I am not AI. However, I could have sent my AI avatar in here and you probably wouldn't have known the.
[16:28]
Kari Sinnett
Difference. Right. How are we going to know the difference in the future and how do we keep an eye out for that? I guess we're going to have to have some sort of electronic handshake so that we make sure that we're both the real people that we're talking to or official agents. If we are directing our AI, how are we going to be able to discern Chris? And this is probably the biggest thing where AI really helps us in our practice in a practical way. And just as you kind of mentioned earlier, what are the shiny things that look interesting but maybe not in that practical level? Do we take baby steps into it or do we dive into the deep end of the.
[17:12]
Chris Benson
Pool? Yeah, I think, I think baby steps are fine at this point. I don't, I don't think you ever want to jump all the way in and you're not going to completely revamp your practice. You know, there's a lot of promises made by AI companies and you hear about in the media about how everything's going to change overnight. Just kind of. I always think back to what we heard about autonomous vehicles and self driving cars. And I remember I bought a car over 10 years ago and was told I'd never buy another car like that again, because they were all, every car was going to be self driving by now. Well, 10 years later we're not there. But we're getting pretty close and it's taken a lot longer than I thought it would but we're getting close to that and I think that's what AI is going to look like. It's going to take time to really transform things, but I think in the future it can transform things for both the bad and the good. And we have to be careful on the bad. And there's, you know, I don't have the solution to the fraud or the impersonation question right now. I know you have to be extra careful. You have to make sure if you get an email you're not just responding and transferring money. You have to check, double check, recheck, call, do whatever you have to do to try to be cautious there. But I also think that the positives eventually. I'm generally an optimistic person by nature and I think on technology, I'm certainly a techno optimist I guess is what you would call it. Where I can see, I can see, you know, I don't know what the future holds, but I could see ways that it could evolve and really improve everything we do. If you think of what you do on a day to day basis, you're probably in software, some kind of software program. If you're doing tax work, you're doing, you're in a tax return and preparing a return or reviewing a return. Think about what it would be like if you could talk to that program and all of a sudden it could pull insights for you. And you see, you're reviewing a return and you see income higher than last year in a certain area and instead of having to dig down and figure out what somebody input, all of a sudden it's just telling you here's where that came from, here's why it came from there. What's it going to look like next year? Just every single program I use I think about, man, it could really be a lot better if we had AI baked into this. And I think that's eventually where we'll be. But it's going to take.
[19:27]
Kari Sinnett
Time. Chris, I'm going to try to join you in your techno optimism. I like the idea of kind of really taking those baby steps and seeing how I can just pare down some of the monotonous tasks that I do. Brainstorm with AI Love that. And challenging AI on the answers that they give us in order to really explore deeper. Thank you so much for sharing with our community of listeners. I think this is going to be deeply helpful as they engage with AI as to what to look for, what could be beneficial, and what to watch out for. And if you're an advisor right now listening who wants to deliver premier financial planning with confidence, you can explore everything the AICPA PFP section has to offer@aicpa.org Pfp including topics like AI, how to use it, what's a great way to look at and evaluate. For 269 a year, AICPA members get access to a library of technical guidance, webcast planning tools, and expert insights like Chris's, all designed to help you serve your clients at the highest level. If you're a CPA with 3,000 hours of financial planning experience already, consider showing your expertise next to your name by obtaining the PFS credential@aicpa.org PFS this is our podcast together and if this episode helped you in your practice, we'd be grateful if you shared it with your professional community. With almost half a million downloads so far, the AICPA PFP podcast is helping to advance the profession one listener at a time. This has been Carrie Sinnett for the AICPA Personal Financial Planning Division. Thanks for listening and until next time, keep earning trust through clarity, guiding with compassion, and delivering premier planning that elevates our.
[21:37]
Podcast Disclaimer Narrator
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