The AI Paradox: How a Notetaking App Is Making Financial Advisors More Human

Guest: Matt Halloran, Chief Evangelist at Zocks

What if AI could actually make you more human with your clients?

That's the counterintuitive promise at the heart of this episode of the Modern Financial Advisor Podcast, where host Mike Langford sits down with Matt Halloran, Chief Evangelist at Zocks, to explore how AI-powered notetaking is transforming the advisor-client relationship.

Matt shares a powerful story that every advisor needs to hear: an advisor who nearly missed a critical health issue his client's spouse mentioned during a meeting—because she got quiet, and he couldn't hear her. But Zocks did. The AI captured what the human ear missed, giving the advisor crucial information that would have otherwise slipped through the cracks.

This episode isn't about replacing advisors with robots. It's about how technology can free advisors from the "tyranny of minutiae" and help them be fully present in the moments that matter most.

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What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why AI has "no baggage"—and why that makes it the perfect listener
  Matt explains how AI doesn't get distracted by bad days, biases, or personal triggers. It listens with "the purest form of listening," capturing details that even the best advisors might miss.

• The health issue story every advisor should hear
  Discover how one advisor's AI notetaker caught a serious health concern that he physically couldn't hear during a client meeting—and why this moment illustrates the power of AI to make you more human, not less.

• How to reclaim 10+ hours per week
  Based on data from 2 million meetings, Zocks users are saving massive amounts of time on meeting prep, note-taking, and follow-up emails. Learn how advisors are using that time to actually serve clients.

• The follow-up email that's closing more business
  Matt shares how a simple, AI-generated follow-up email—personalized and prompt—helped one advisor win a prospect over three competitors. It's proof that being present and responsive matters more than ever.

• Why 95% of Zocks users use it every single day
  Most software gets bought and forgotten. Zocks has a 95% daily adoption rate. Matt breaks down why this tool has become indispensable for advisors.

• The compliance advantage: transcription vs. recording
  Unlike competitors that record meetings (requiring storage of millions of hours of audio), Zocks uses real-time transcription. No recordings to store. No massive compliance headaches. Just clean, searchable text.

• Why adoption rates are skyrocketing from 10% to 90% in 18 months
  When Matt first started speaking about AI at industry conferences 18 months ago, only 10% of advisors were using it. Now? 90% at top producer conferences like MDRT Edge. The train has left the station—and advisors who don't get on will be left behind.

Why It Matters

The financial advisory industry is at an inflection point.

Clients expect faster, more personalized service. Younger advisors expect modern technology. Compliance requirements are only getting more complex. And the competition for talent and clients is fiercer than ever.

Advisors who embrace AI tools like Zocks aren't just working smarter—they're positioning themselves to thrive in the next decade of this business.

As Matt puts it:

"This isn't the future. This is today. And if you're not on this train, you're going to lose business. You're going to lose clients. Because this is what clients expect now.

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