In this exclusive WealthBriefing Q&A, Karel Tant explains how Addepar serves 1,400+ firms managing $9 trillion by solving the "zero margin for error" challenge in finance. He highlights Addison, a native AI that uses natural language to amplify human judgment with traceable, portfolio-aware insights.

Where do you draw inspiration for innovation – within the wealth industry or beyond it?

Our greatest source of inspiration is our clients. Addepar serves more than 1,400 firms across 60 countries, collectively managing $9 trillion on our platform - over 40% of which is allocated to alternatives. The scale and sophistication of those portfolios inform how we continue to lead the industry forward.

Our clients rely on Addepar’s trusted, unified data foundation to transform portfolio, market and client data into a total portfolio view. They are navigating increasingly complex structures, asset classes and jurisdictions, and they expect technology that not only keeps pace, but anticipates what comes next.

We listen closely to how they operate and where friction exists. Our innovation is grounded in solving real challenges for the world’s leading firms, enabling faster, more informed decisions, greater operational efficiency, and better outcomes for the clients they serve.

What are the key challenges you foresee in wealth management over the next five years, and how are you positioning your business to meet them?

The next five years will be defined by how firms respond to rising expectations - particularly as they adopt AI. Client demands continue to increase, and firms must do more with increasingly complex financial data. While AI is broadly mature enough to deliver meaningful value, in financial services, the margin for error is essentially zero.

The challenge is not access to AI models; it is trust, integration and impact. In a highly regulated environment, generic tools struggle with financial data complexity, governance requirements and real portfolio context across public and private assets.

In this industry, intelligence must be permission-aware, transparent and grounded in real portfolio data. From day one, Addepar has invested in building a unified, governed data platform - proven by serving sophisticated firms globally for more than 15 years. That long-term foundation enables us to help clients adopt AI with confidence, embedding intelligence into the daily workflows they rely on.

What has been the most impactful innovation your firm introduced recently, and how has it shaped client outcomes or internal efficiency?

Our most transformative innovation is Addison, Addepar’s native AI experience. Addison is built directly into the Addepar platform, enabling advisers to interact with their book of business more intuitively. It understands portfolio structure, asset-class complexity including alternatives, and firm-specific entitlements.

As a result, advisers can use natural language to analyse performance drivers, exposures and liquidity in minutes. Every response is portfolio-aware, traceable and tied directly to underlying data.

Importantly, Addison amplifies human judgement rather than replacing it. It accelerates analysis and surfaces insights, helping firms move more quickly from question to decision while maintaining accountability.

What does winning this award mean to your firm, and how will you use this recognition going forward?

EMEA is a strategically important and expanding market for Addepar. With offices in London, Edinburgh, Geneva and Dubai, and nearly 250 employees across Europe and the Middle East, we have built a strong and established presence supporting firms operating in complex regulatory and cross-border environments.

Winning this award is meaningful recognition of the momentum we are driving across the region. Demand continues to accelerate as firms modernise their operating models, replacing legacy systems and manual processes with unified platforms designed for global, multi-asset portfolios and AI-driven insight.

It underscores the trust our clients place in us and reinforces our focus on equipping them with the tools and intelligence to operate at scale in complex global markets.