Key Takeaways
- • Only 22% of family offices currently use AI for operational tasks or investment analysis, up from 13% in 2024, according to a Citi Institute report, leaving a significant adoption gap relative to institutional investors.
- • Data privacy is non-negotiable for family offices; AI solutions that cannot guarantee data security are unlikely to be adopted.
- • Family offices are primarily pursuing AI for operational leanness, using it to automate routine tasks so small teams can focus on strategy and relationships, rather than to generate investment alpha.
- • The most successful AI applications address everyday problems such as summarizing documents, transcribing meetings, managing email and automating reports.
- • Younger family members and junior staff are the main advocates for AI, while final investment decisions remain with experienced humans.
Summary
Family offices have reached a turning point in their adoption of artificial intelligence, according to a Citi Institute report based on in-depth discussions with single-family office principals and chief investment officers across North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. The report argues that family offices' AI journey differs from that of institutional investors because of their need for privacy and their mandate to manage both institutional-grade investments and personal family affairs.
The report finds significantly different levels of AI adoption across the sector. Adoption ranges from firms with company-wide daily AI usage mandates to firms still working through the tension between AI's promise and their families' cautious stance on data privacy and security. Only 22% of family offices currently use AI for operational tasks or investment analysis, up from 13% in 2024, and a significant gap remains compared with institutional investors.
Citi notes that family offices can draw lessons from the institutional journey of the past few years, which has moved from operational efficiency to front-office exploration and now to agentic AI. Family offices, however, generally are not yet focused on AI as a driver of investment returns. Their priority is leanness: automating routine work so small teams can concentrate on strategy and relationships.
The report identifies practical applications as the most successful, including document summarization, meeting transcription, email management and report automation. Younger generations and junior staff are described as the biggest advocates, experimenting with tools, demonstrating value and bringing older generations along. Family offices tend to view AI as an assistant that handles operational burden, with final decisions, especially on investments, remaining with experienced humans. As Citi puts it, the ideal family office is not one without humans, but one where humans are freed from repetitive tasks to focus on high-value activities.
The report finds significantly different levels of AI adoption across the sector. Adoption ranges from firms with company-wide daily AI usage mandates to firms still working through the tension between AI's promise and their families' cautious stance on data privacy and security. Only 22% of family offices currently use AI for operational tasks or investment analysis, up from 13% in 2024, and a significant gap remains compared with institutional investors.
Citi notes that family offices can draw lessons from the institutional journey of the past few years, which has moved from operational efficiency to front-office exploration and now to agentic AI. Family offices, however, generally are not yet focused on AI as a driver of investment returns. Their priority is leanness: automating routine work so small teams can concentrate on strategy and relationships.
The report identifies practical applications as the most successful, including document summarization, meeting transcription, email management and report automation. Younger generations and junior staff are described as the biggest advocates, experimenting with tools, demonstrating value and bringing older generations along. Family offices tend to view AI as an assistant that handles operational burden, with final decisions, especially on investments, remaining with experienced humans. As Citi puts it, the ideal family office is not one without humans, but one where humans are freed from repetitive tasks to focus on high-value activities.
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