Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of professional practice across the trust and estate sector. As firms explore new tools, an important question is emerging: how can AI be used in ways that enhance professional work without undermining the judgment, accountability and trust that fiduciary practice depends on?

That question sits at the heart of STEP’s AI Thought Leadership Working Group, which evolved from an initial proposal in 2025 into a broad programme of practical and thought leadership activities.

The idea takes shape

The story began in July 2025 with a need to deliver our strategic priority of raising STEP’s profile, which we are achieving in part through this AI workstream. The aim was to create a framework to help the profession understand, anticipate and integrate AI while preserving the integrity of fiduciary practice. The proposal covered a wide range of issues including trusteeship, governance, ethics, operational use, workforce skills and client trust.

A shift in the conversation

As discussions progressed, the focus began to become clearer, particularly the intersection between the expertise of practitioners and how they are using AI to support but not replace their work.

This led to a series of governance questions. Can organisations explain how important decisions were reached? Can they reconstruct the reasoning behind a discretionary judgment? How should boards oversee and document the use of AI?

These discussions reframed the challenge. The issue was not whether the profession should adopt AI, but how it could do so without weakening the qualities that make fiduciary judgement trustworthy and defensible.

Moving from ideas to action

By February 2026, STEP had convened a formal AI Thought Leadership Working Group. The group was designed to produce practical outcomes rather than simply discuss emerging technology. The group’s members are: Javier Canosa, Canosa Abogados; Matthew Lenaghan, RMW Law; Sara M. Johnson TEP, RBC Family Office Services; Frédéric Sanz, Fiduciacorp; Ian Hull, Hull and Hull and Niklas Schmidt TEP, Wolf Theiss.

Early priorities included the development of educational resources to help members understand both the opportunities and risks associated with AI.

Discussions also broadened beyond technology. The Working Group considered the role of psychology, trust, critical thinking and professional behaviour, particularly training future practitioners to use critical thinking as part of their practice. One concern was that while AI can improve productivity and capability, it may also weaken skills if it is used as a substitute for professional judgement rather than as a tool to support it.

The impact on vulnerable clients and people with diminished capacity was also highlighted, reinforcing the need to consider the human consequences of AI adoption alongside the technical ones.

Building a practical programme

By May 2026, the Working Group had developed a planned programme of activity for the year ahead and beyond. Plans include a webinar series, a terminology resource, practitioner case studies, sessions at STEP’s Global Congress in Bermuda and a white paper on artificial intelligence and professional responsibility. Discussions have also begun around a potential publication focused on AI in private client and trust practice. STEP has also created a new AI Hub, which brings together news, features and resources to help advisors and their clients navigate through the rapidly developing area of AI. The Hub includes a factsheet that brings together key insights from STEP’s Barometer 2026 report.

A key element is our web event miniseries. Topics range from AI fundamentals and the human value advisors bring to governance, changing professional skills, fraud, ethics and fiduciary duty. Together, these sessions are designed to build practical understanding/considerations.

Congress planning reflects the same approach. The emphasis has shifted away from introductory discussions about AI and towards implementation, governance, regulation, fiduciary judgement and client behaviour.

Governance becomes central

One of the most significant developments has been the emergence of AI governance as a dedicated workstream. The concern is that organisations might adopt AI tools before establishing clear oversight arrangements and governance frameworks.

Among the concepts the Working Group is exploring is an AI Governance Readiness Tool that could help organisations assess whether they can explain AI-assisted decisions, identify where human accountability remains and document an appropriate governance position.

The bigger question

The conversation includes how AI might transform the profession to how organisations should govern it responsibly, and what happens when AI becomes part of professional judgement.

That evolution explains why governance, ethics, psychology, regulation, fraud, skills and fiduciary responsibility now sit within the same programme of work. They are different aspects of the same challenge.

The Working Group ultimately emerged not to promote AI adoption for its own sake, but to help define the conditions under which AI can be used responsibly. Its work reflects a growing recognition that the fiduciary professional of the future will be judged not by whether they use AI, but by how effectively they combine it with human judgement, accountability and trust.

Working Group Co-authors:

• Javier Canosa, partner at Canosa Abogados;
• Frédéric Sanz, Director of FIDUC-IA CORP; and
• Niklas Schmidt, TEP, Partner, Wolf Theiss.