The Government’s ambitious reform plans will reshape pension providers by 2030, driving consolidation, better value, and increased UK investment, with AI set to play a key role in transforming the market. But no matter how advanced technology gets, attendees at a recent round table event said that the human touch and telling meaningful stories will remain an integral part of helping people understand and make the most of their retirement options.
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Pensions dashboards and open finance lie at the core of this shift, changing how customers access and engage with their pensions, evolving from data aggregation to more personalised guidance. These changes will reshape adviser business models and client engagement, as regulators focus more on outcomes than processes.
At a recent Corporate Adviser round table, delegates examined these themes, exploring how digital innovation and wider pensions reforms will drive market development and impact providers, consultants and clients.
Dawn of the dashboard
As dashboards edge closer to launch, they not only promise greater data visibility but also underscore the need for AI to turn that data into meaningful insight and engagement.
Dashboards are set to tackle one of the pension sector’s biggest challenges by helping people reconnect with lost or forgotten pots. Omny strategic partnerships consultant Roy McLoughlin noted: “People forget pensions they’ve had. Dashboards could help them reconnect with lost pots, which is essential to reducing consumer detriment.”
But the real transformation is likely to come from the ability to draw in data from various sources, giving users an overview of their finances without having to track down lost pensions. Royal London head of data strategy Lee Wilson said: “Dashboards and AI offer a chance for holistic customer views, especially with consent-based data sharing that enables personalised and accurate scenarios.”
Wilson highlighted a crucial second layer of consent, where individuals permit providers to enrich data and
model outcomes, rather than just viewing the total balance in a specific pension scheme. She noted: “That’s where the real impact will come from.”
According to Wilson, past reforms give us an idea of what might happen next. When open banking started, despite previous concerns, the majority of people did not switch away from the largest providers. However she said it did highlight how some customers, particularly younger and the more tech-savvy ones, behaved. She said this insight has already helped shape new product designs.
Targeted support
The introduction of the Pension Schemes Bill ushers in a host of new reforms that will support many of these changes, including the introduction of targeted support. Royal London director of policy & external affairs Jamie Jenkins added that targeted support “nudges people into making good decisions rather than the current situation which is largely centred around warning people of all the dangers
of doing the wrong thing.”
For providers, it’s about moving from static statements to dynamic tools. Secondsight head of client consulting Gavin Zaprzala-Banks said: “Empowering members to see all their numbers in real time makes the conversation more meaningful, for both employers and individuals.”
Jenkins also noted that the regulatory environment is evolving, with both the FCA and the Pensions Regulator “looking at how they support growth by easing regulations, not to loosen things and allow a kind of free for all, but rather to move to a more principles-based approach.”
Storytelling arcs
But as dashboards surface more data, the real value will lie in how advisers turn that information into stories and scenarios that resonate with clients’ lives.
Technology and changing consumer expectations are putting pressure on traditional advice models, but they’re also opening new routes to engage, personalise, and scale. Wilson said: “AI can model contextual scenarios and support customer decisions more effectively. That’s key to solving the engagement challenge
in pensions.”
Even with automation, it’s still up to advisers to make sense of the data and turn it into something real and relatable for their clients. Wilson noted: “We already have rich conversations, but struggle to continue them. AI can help create personalised lifecycle that respond to real-life events and needs.”
Jenkins added: “We’re not going to be prescriptive about your workings. We’re more interested in what happens at the end… what outcomes people have.” He added that this emphasis on outcomes will “probably start to help us get rid of some of the poorer activities or the bad actors that do kind of blight our industry over time.”
McLoughlin underscored the enduring importance of emotional connection in advice. He said: “We all use anecdotes to get the pension message across, stories of people retiring well, or ending up with nothing. But how does AI replicate that kind of storytelling, the kind that makes a 25-year-old think, ‘I can relate to this’?”
This tension between data-driven insight and human empathy is shaping how advisers must evolve. Zaprzala-Banks noted that while AI may move away from traditional storytelling, it offers something potentially more powerful. He said: “It acts as a mirror. Instead of saying ‘people like you,’ AI can say ‘this is for you.’ It doesn’t tell an anecdote, it reflects the individual’s situation back to them. That elevates the message.”
Those at the event agreed that trust in advice comes from relevance, even in a digital world, with the human story behind the numbers can help to build real connections. Wilson said: “Good data use builds a virtuous circle, people will share more if they get something useful and personal in return.”
Knowledge gap
Public expectations haven’t caught up with the pension market’s evolution. Howden Employee Benefits and Wellbeing head of pensions Emma Hadley warned: “There’s a big gap in understanding when it comes to pensions. People still expect DB outcomes but we are living in a DC world. This mismatch will challenge advisers and educators alike.”
Grant Thornton employee benefits consultancy manager Mohammed Amin said there is a stark lack of understanding about pensions, with many people still expecting to largely rely on the state pension in retirement. But even with the inflation-busting increases of recent years this only provides a subsistence level. Most people will need workplace or private pensions to enjoy a decent standard of living once they stop working he said. “You can tell someone to increase contributions, but it won’t land unless they understand what they want in retirement. The moment you say, ‘This is your last month of work,’ it becomes real, that’s when the conversation changes.”
Amin emphasised that retirement isn’t one-size-fits-all. It’s shaped by personal, cultural and financial realities that advisers must understand to deliver meaningful support. This can be supported through AI, but again he stressed the ‘human’ element as being essential as a first stage to getting people to engage with savings more widely.
McLoughlin added: “Advice has to reflect real needs, someone with one pension and a mortgage needs different support than someone with 10 pots and wealth management. Yet TikTok is the biggest advice platform now.”
As the pension market consolidates over the next five years with a growing focus on better outcomes, dashboards and AI will improve clarity and personalisation. But delegates agreed that connection still depends on human stories and empathy, and technology should support the role of good advice rather than replace it.
