11-22-2024
How does a century-old company keep its reputation for personalized service while using tools such as AI to gain a competitive advantage? That’s the question facing the financial services giant Edward Jones, which had modest roots with agents serving local communities by selling securities from the trunk of a car at its inception but had grown by 2022 to total revenue of $12.4 billion.
Rich Ryffel, executive director of business leadership and professor of practice at the Daniels School of Business, co-wrote a Harvard Business School case about the company’s strategy to combine technology and traditional human connection to attract new clients while more deeply serving current clients more efficiently. Deniz Yavuz, Hanna Rising Star associate professor of management and founding director of the Purdue Fintech Center, had Ryffel present the case to a packed auditorium of graduate and undergraduate students. Representatives from Edward Jones headquarters in St. Louis, including Chief Information Officer Frank LaQuinta, joined the class via Zoom, and local financial advisors attended the class in Krannert Auditorium.
“Technology is becoming more and more important in financial services,” Yavuz says. “AI is the most implemented new technology, and it’s valuable for our students to hear from companies that are currently utilizing it. I can talk about it in class, but the students learn better when they can see it in person.”
Company reps spoke about rolling out Salesforce to 20,000 financial advisors, allowing them to share information about client solutions with each other, while also providing safeguards to protect confidential information from cyberthreats. By leveraging the experience of their advisors and feedback from clients, Edward Jones hopes to provide more robust service while maintaining the company’s personal touch. As one executive says, “If we don’t disrupt ourselves, who will come around the corner to disrupt us?”
A recent study by Daniels School Assistant Professor Matthew Kovach found that it’s still too early for Large Language Models to replace financial advisors. But Ryffel says the case illustrates that if done correctly, the combination of the human touch and technology can be the best of both worlds for consumers. Edward Jones sees this combination of Artificial Intelligence and Advisor Intelligence as a competitive advantage.
Jim Bullard, Dr. Samuel R. Allen Dean of the Daniels School, says, “Technology has eaten business; all companies are tech businesses now.” Ryffel adds, “Classroom learning opportunities like this, with industry-leading companies like Edward Jones, teach Daniels students how to manage traditional businesses in a digitally transforming and rapidly changing world.
“At Daniels, STEM equals business. At Edward Jones, STEM is building the future and ensuring its clients’ success.”
