Adrian Johnstone is the Co-founder and CEO of Practifi, a performance optimization platform that transforms data into insights, action, and excellence at scale. Practifi helps wealth management firms go beyond traditional CRMs and redefine what's possible. With over 20 years of experience in wealth management, Adrian has an extensive background as a consultant and tech company founder, advising businesses on their technology, client experience, and regulation. He is also a renowned speaker at industry events in Australia and the United States.
AI is everywhere, and financial advisory firms feel intense pressure to adopt it fast. From note-taking bots to automated client communications, the promise of efficiency is seductive. But when technology moves faster than strategy, how do firms ensure AI enhances client relationships instead of eroding trust?
Adrian Johnstone, a fintech executive and CRM innovator, explains that the key is starting with client outcomes, not shiny tools. He emphasizes listening closely to customers before building anything and focusing AI on high-impact areas like workflow automation and process standardization. Adrian advises firms to prioritize data integrity, use tight governance to prevent hallucinations, and require clear citations for AI-generated insights. He also encourages leaders to measure ROI rigorously, shut down tools that don't deliver value, and resist layering AI over broken systems.
In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews Adrian Johnstone, CEO of Practifi, about using AI responsibly in wealth management technology. Adrian discusses workflow automation, preventing AI hallucinations, and why fixing your data model matters more than chasing the latest AI trend.
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Kingdom of Fraud
It’s the unlikeliest of criminal partnerships: a devout polygamist from an insular Utah sect joining forces with a shadowy Armenian tycoon from LA. The result - a billion dollar fraud conspiracy. In Kingdom of Fraud, investigative reporter Michele McPhee traces the origins of the extraordinary alliance between Jacob Kingston and Levon Termendzhyan. Together, the two men trigger the largest tax investigation in American history and weave around themselves a web of dirty cops, influential political relationships and transnational money laundering. All this is set against the backdrop of Jacob Kingston’s clan – The Order. A powerful and secretive polygamist organization in Salt Lake City. To whom Jacob is desperate to prove his worth. Kingdom of Fraud is produced by Novel for iHeart Podcasts. For more from Novel, visit https://novel.audio/. You can listen to new episodes of Kingdom of Fraud completely ad-free and 1 week early with an iHeart True Crime+ subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “iHeart True Crime+, and subscribe today!