PUBLISHED DATE: 2026-06-05 04:00:43

STOP PILOTING.
START PROVING

The 90-Day AI ROI Plan
You Can Actually Use

FOREWORD

Off the back of PIMFA and Publicis Sapient’s webinar on: ROI from AI – Turning Investment into Measurable Impact* (December 2025), lead sponsors of the PIMFA AI Programme Publicis Sapient have developed this FREE 30–60–90 day plan to give wealth managers a clear, de-risked pathway for taking a single AI workflow from concept to measurable business impact in just three months.

The need for a structured, proven approach has never been clearer. During the webinar, member firms told us that 40% do not have a consistent definition of AI ROI, 33% try to measure everything at once, 0% measure revenue uplift, and 75% cite data readiness as the biggest barrier to value. A further 31% highlighted governance and accuracy concerns. These results reflect a sector-wide truth: firms are investing in AI, but lack the focus, foundations and frameworks needed to turn ambition into measurable outcomes.

This 30–60–90 plan has been designed to solve exactly that.

Whether you are beginning your AI journey or scaling at pace, focusing on one high-value use case, establishing minimum viable data and governance foundations, and delivering a working prototype within 30 days creates early momentum and clarity. The following 60 days harden the solution through real-world testing, integration and oversight, culminating in a parallel run that proves tangible ROI — faster cycle times, improved accuracy, greater capacity and stronger control.

The result?

A repeatable, scalable model that enables your firm to embed AI safely, confidently and with quantifiable value.

This plan isn’t theory, it’s the proven process Publicis Sapient are already deploying with wealth and asset managers to turn AI ambition into repeatable, measurable ROI in weeks, not years. This plan reflects the sort of practical support we provide to senior leaders on the AI Leaders Incubator Programme, no theory, no coding, just hands-on guidance and applied frameworks to help firms unlock real ROI from AI.

Click here to access the webinar.

GUIDELINES FOR USING THIS 30–60–90 DAY AI SCALING PLAN

  1. Pick ONE workflow and treat it as a business investment.
    This plan only works if you focus. Select a single workflow with a clear and defensible link to cost reduction, risk mitigation, or revenue enablement. Do not run multiple workflows in parallel. Depth creates value; breadth creates noise.
  2. Appoint a single owner accountable for ROI.
    Every workflow must have one accountable business owner with authority to make trade-offs and decisions. AI initiatives fail when ownership is shared; they scale when accountability is clear.
  3. Define ROI before you build anything — and anchor it financially.
    Before any build activity begins, define success in terms the Board recognises:
    Operational metrics (cycle time, accuracy, capacity) are enablers — they must ladder directly to one of these three outcomes.
  4. Use minimum viable data, not perfect data.
    Your data will never be perfect. Waiting for perfection guarantees inertia.
    Define the minimum viable data required to prove value in 90 days and iterate from there. Firms that succeed improve their data estate because they deliver value, not before.
  5. Embed governance early to accelerate scale later.
    Governance is not an obstacle; it is what allows AI to move safely into production.
    Define escalation thresholds, confidence scores, human-in-the-loop controls, and risk ownership from day one. What is governed early scales faster.
  6. Expect weekly iteration, not linear delivery.
    This plan depends on rapid learning cycles. If metrics are not improving week-on-week, pause and adjust. Progress is measured by outcomes moving, not activities completed.
  7. Treat KPIs as non-negotiable decision tools.
    Track a small number of metrics that matter:
    If these metrics do not move, pivot. AI scaling is a business discipline, not a technology exercise.
  8. Communicate early, clearly, and consistently.
    Bring operations, risk, compliance, and frontline teams into the journey from day one. Silence creates resistance; transparency builds trust and adoption.
  9. Prove value in parallel before declaring success.
    The final 30 days must demonstrate performance against real operating conditions. Parallel runs - agent vs. human - are essential to validate impact and build executive confidence.
  10. Reuse the pattern, don’t reinvent it.
    Once the first workflow proves ROI, lift and replicate the model. This is how firms move from pilot > portfolio > enterprise scale.

0–30 DAYS: SET THE VALUE AGENDA & BUILD THE FIRST WORKING MODEL

Objective: Create absolute clarity on where value will come from, align stakeholders on ROI, mobilise the minimum viable dataset, and deliver a functioning v1 that demonstrates AI is real, feasible, and directly linked to a P&L driver.

Focus Area | Executive-Level Questions | Board-Ready Deliverables | Leadership Roles Required | KPIs (Board-Level)

Value & Workflow Selection
ROI Definition & Success Metrics
Minimum Viable Data (MVD)
Human + Agent Operating Model
Agent Build (Prototype v1)
Integration Feasibility
Controls & Guardrails
Stakeholder Alignment & Change Readiness

30–60 DAYS: INDUSTRIALISE THE PILOT & PROVE RELIABILITY

Objective: Strengthen the agent, integrate with existing systems, embed guardrails, and validate performance in real workflows to ensure the solution is accurate, safe, and operationally scalable.

Focus Area | Executive-Level Questions | Board-Grade Deliverables | Leadership Roles Required | KPIs (Executive/Board-Level)

Agent Hardening
Integration Readiness
Controls & Guardrails
Real-World Scenario Testing
Stakeholder Readiness & Change Alignment

60–90 DAYS: DEMONSTRATE BUSINESS IMPACT & COMMIT TO SCALE

Objective: Run a fully supervised parallel process, quantify financial impact, and produce the evidence pack required for leadership to approve broader rollout across additional workflows.

Focus Area | Executive-Level Questions | Board-Ready Deliverables | Leadership Roles Required | KPIs (Board-Level)

Pre-Production Deployment
Supervised Parallel Run
ROI Validation & Executive Impact Case
Scale Blueprint & Governance Approval
Change, Adoption & Embedding

THE AI LEADERS INCUBATOR PROGRAMME

PIMFA and Publicis Sapient have joined forces as partners to create the AI Leaders Incubator Programme, a powerful two day learning experience for senior leaders in wealth management.

With the hands-on support of industry experts, you will learn to design, test and deploy real AI use cases that deliver measurable business results. Using proven frameworks and practical labs, you will define your own roadmap to ROI, building the confidence, capability and conviction to turn insight into execution and execution into impact.

No coding or data-science background is required. All you need is the ambition to understand how AI aligns with your firm’s size, data maturity and risk appetite and the willingness to select scalable use cases that deliver measurable, defensible results.

To find out more about the AI Leaders Incubator Programme.

ABOUT PUBLICIS SAPIENT

Publicis Sapient is a global technology leader in that provides enterprise AI platforms and services. With over 30 years of digital business transformation experience, they enable enterprise clients to transform how they operate and serve their customers, unlocking new value and enabling them to thrive in an AI-driven world. Their platforms use AI built off this deep enterprise context to untangle legacy complexity and build agentic solutions to streamline operations and strengthen risk and regulatory performance. The combination of proprietary AI platforms and the expertise of their teams bring hands-on experience to deliver faster and more effective outcomes through solutions that are specific to the unique needs of global enterprises, including wealth and asset managers. Publicis Sapient is the technology hub of Publicis Groupe, uniting 20,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit publicissapient.com.

As co-creators of the AI Leaders Incubator Programme, Publicis Sapient has worked alongside PIMFA to design the curriculum, shape the learning journey, and bring real-world use-cases and practitioner expertise directly into the programme.