I was lucky enough to speak at PIMFA Women’s Symposium today on AI in financial advice. I told the audience that developing AI skills is critical to their future success.

• Lawyers with AI skills command a 27% wage premium (Source PWC 2024 AI Jobs Barometer)
• Oxford University found a 23% wage premium for people with AI skills, surpassing the 13% premium for people with a masters degree.

We’re all familiar with the gender pay gap. Are we at risk of that gap getting larger because of an AI skills gap? According to NextWealth data, 34% of financial advice professionals in December 2024 were using AI in business. If we look at that by gender of respondent, men in financial advice firms are 52% more likely to be suing AI.

We’ve been delighted that at our AI Lab event we’ve always had strong female representation among attendees and speakers. It’s incredibly important that women (and men) invest in their skills.

One of the attendees at today’s event asked me what courses I’d recommend. I’d definitely recommend joining AI Lab. I have joined AI for non techies, which has been super. I’ve also taken a number of courses from Section School. The important thing though is to change your own behaviour. Taking courses is great but just make sure you put what you learn into practice.