Should an RIA build or buy AI
Most RIAs should neither build nor buy AI, they should implement it. Building from scratch is too expensive and slow; buying off-the-shelf SaaS gives you something that doesn't know your firm. The third option is a on-site build-implemented brain that is custom-built inside your firm in one week and then operated for you, giving you the ownership of build and the speed of buy.
Build
Pros: total control, fully custom, every prompt is yours.
Cons: $250K-$1M to do it well, 6-12 months to ship, requires a real engineering team to maintain.
Verdict: only makes sense for firms with $5B+ AUM and an in-house tech function.
Buy (SaaS)
Pros: ships immediately, low monthly cost.
Cons: doesn't know your firm, doesn't sound like you, you're locked into someone else's roadmap, and the moment you cancel, your data and your prompts are gone.
Verdict: good for narrow use cases (a meeting note-taker, a CRM AI add-on), bad as a firm-wide strategy.
Implementation (on-site build model)
Pros: custom-built inside your firm in five days, trained on your voice and your data, you own the prompts and the model config, operated by a partner on a flat monthly.
Cons: has to be done in person, requires the principal in the room.
Verdict: the right move for $50M-$2B firms that want the power of a built system without the cost of building one.
How to choose
If you have an engineering team and $500K to burn, build. If you only need a meeting note-taker, buy. For everything in between, and that's most advisory firms, implement.
Quiet Machines implements an AI brain inside advisory firms in a 3-day on-site build. AI visibility audit →