What happens when a firm that’s brilliant at the art of advice decides to get serious about the science?
In this episode, Danni Le Grande sits down with Matt Hale, Managing Director of Rising Tide Financial Services, for an honest conversation about the AI journey his practice has been on, not over a few months, but a few years. Matt shares how Rising Tide moved from anecdotal, “in-my-head” processes to a documented advice methodology, and how AI agents now sit inside that journey with one clear job each: file notes, intro-call coaching, implementation, and reviewing advice documents against the firm’s philosophies and “Bible.”
Along the way, Matt and Danni get into the stuff that actually makes or breaks a tech rollout: knowing your own gaps (“I’m the best person to get something from zero to 80%, and the worst to get it from 80 to 99”), running an internal innovation month with a cash prize to build the habit, and the very real challenge of change fatigue. Matt explains why “humans dealing with humans is a recipe for drift,” why AI feedback lands differently than feedback from a person (“AI doesn’t wake up on the wrong side of the bed, and the camera doesn’t lie”), and how he separates his Copilot agents from his more philosophical “projects.”
They close on working with consultants: what a good one actually does, why you should treat them like you’d treat a client, and Matt’s advice for anyone whose AI journey isn’t going to plan. Find the curious people, get comfortable with change, and don’t be half-in. There’s no silver bullet, but there might be something that complements what you’re already doing.
In this episode:
- The “science and art” of advice, and why most firms lean one way
- Using DISC and honest self-audits to understand your leadership gaps
- Running an innovation month to make AI a daily habit
- Giving agents one clear task, not ten jobs
- Agents vs. projects: where each one fits
- Coaching that doesn’t sting, objective feedback from transcripts
- Reviewing advice documents against your philosophy with a traffic-light system
- Navigating change fatigue and AI fatigue with your team
- What to look for (and avoid) when working with consultants