The asset management industry is rapidly evolving as firms increasingly adopt generative and agentic AI to improve efficiency, enhance decision-making, and identify new opportunities for value creation. This shift toward intelligent automation is becoming a defining trend across financial services, with major institutions moving beyond experimentation and into large-scale, real-world deployment. A recent partnership between Franklin Templeton and Wand AI highlights how agentic AI is now being positioned as a core component of modern investment operations rather than a supporting technology.
Franklin Resources, operating globally as Franklin Templeton, has entered into a strategic collaboration with enterprise AI platform Wand AI to deploy agentic AI across its worldwide investment and operational ecosystem. The partnership focuses on implementing Wand AI’s Autonomous Workforce and Agent Management technologies, enabling Franklin Templeton to use intelligent agents at scale. These agents are designed to operate autonomously within defined governance frameworks, helping teams process complex data faster and support more informed investment decisions.
From pilot projects to enterprise-scale AI deployment
The collaboration initially began with limited pilot programmes aimed at testing high-impact AI use cases within Franklin Templeton’s investment teams. These early trials demonstrated measurable benefits in areas such as data analysis, research acceleration, and workflow optimisation. Based on these results, the partnership has progressed from experimental deployments to fully operational AI systems integrated into day-to-day processes. This transition marks an important step for asset managers seeking to embed AI deeply into their operational models rather than using it as a standalone tool.
With the foundational systems now in place, Franklin Templeton plans to expand the deployment of intelligent agents across additional departments during 2025. The broader rollout is intended to support digital transformation initiatives throughout the organisation, strengthening research capabilities and improving collaboration between human teams and AI-driven systems. By scaling agentic AI responsibly, the firm aims to enhance productivity while maintaining the high standards required in regulated financial environments.
Governance, trust, and responsible AI use
A central focus of the Franklin Templeton and Wand AI partnership is ensuring that agentic AI operates under strict oversight, compliance, and risk management controls. In asset management, trust and transparency are critical, particularly when AI systems are involved in research and decision-support processes. Franklin Templeton has emphasised that strong governance frameworks are essential to ensuring AI delivers secure, scalable, and measurable value without compromising regulatory or ethical standards.
Leadership at both organisations has highlighted the importance of treating AI not as an experimental technology, but as a managed, enterprise-grade workforce. The vision behind Wand AI’s platform is to enable intelligent agents that can collaborate with human teams, adapt to complex operational environments, and function reliably at scale. This approach reflects a broader industry recognition that AI’s true impact emerges when it is carefully orchestrated and integrated across the organisation.
AI’s growing role across the financial sector
Franklin Templeton’s move is part of a wider trend among financial institutions accelerating AI adoption. Investment banks and asset managers are increasingly viewing AI as a driver of long-term productivity and competitiveness. Goldman Sachs, for example, has publicly identified AI as a major force shaping future economic growth and internal transformation. The firm has expanded its use of generative AI across operations, including the launch of an internal AI assistant designed to support tasks such as drafting content, analysing data, and summarising complex documents.
These deployments reflect a shift away from niche AI use cases toward broader enterprise implementations aimed at improving operational efficiency. By automating routine and time-intensive tasks, AI systems free professionals to focus on higher-value strategic work, reinforcing the role of human expertise rather than replacing it. Industry leaders have also acknowledged that while AI presents enormous opportunities, not every investment will succeed, making disciplined implementation and evaluation essential.
Adapting workforces for an AI-driven future
The expanding role of AI is also reshaping workforce structures across financial institutions. Over the past two decades, technology has significantly changed how firms allocate talent, with a growing emphasis on engineering, data science, and AI-related roles. Rather than eliminating jobs outright, AI is contributing to shifts in skill requirements and job functions. This adaptability is seen as a strength, enabling organisations to respond to technological change while continuing to invest in long-term growth.
As more firms integrate agentic AI into their operations, the focus is moving toward building flexible systems that combine human judgment with autonomous intelligence. The partnership between Franklin Templeton and Wand AI illustrates how asset managers are embracing this model, positioning AI as a trusted collaborator in research, analysis, and operational execution. In 2025 and beyond, such initiatives are likely to play a central role in shaping the future of asset management, signalling a new phase where AI-driven decision support becomes a standard feature of the financial industry.
