The New War for Talent

It’s Friday night, and I’m sitting next to some of my friends in Atlanta — watching Indiana shellack Oregon in the Peach Bowl.

This week, I’m focused on growing my team at Milemarker with the right leader for the next stage of our onboarding. The major challenge here is that what you can and should do to lead in a technology company is radicially differnet than it even was six months ago.

No one can afford to be recruiting static talent. We have to build a team that can keep up, constantly think differently, and leverage technology to constantly challenge the status quo.

In many respects, adding talent and investing in your talent is completely new territory in 2026.

With this, I’m writing about the new war for talent and what this really means today.

Here’s this week’s Rising Tide.

1. The New War for Talent

2. Scaling White-Glove Client Experiences with Sarah Simmer🎧

3. Indiana’s Curt Cignetti on the Keys to Leading in 2026

4. Milemarker On the Road ✈️

Getting the right talent is everything.

If you run a wealth management firm or a wealthtech company, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Finding people who fit your culture. Who can execute. Who see the vision and carry it forward. People who help you build something far greater than yourself.

It’s some of the hardest work there is. We’re all spinning a lot of plates right now.

But here’s the thing—there’s a new war for talent happening, and this battle is more within than without.

Things are moving simply too fast.

The real differentiator isn’t who you can poach from a competitor. That game’s been going on for as long as there have been RIAs. Musical chairs. It never stops.

That’s not the war I’m talking about.

The new war for talent is about AI adoption. The day-to-day practice of thinking about your work differently. Transforming how things get done at an exponential pace.

This is what’s going to separate firms going forward.

If you’re not leaning in as a leader right now, you’re missing what I believe to be one of the most meaningful waves of change to sweep our industry. A real chance to do better for our clients. To build better products and solutions. To go deeper in the detail and help we can provide.

This is such an interesting time.

Look at the data: 95% of wealth and asset management firms have scaled AI adoption to multiple use cases. 78% are exploring agentic AI.¹ Family offices leveraging AI to improve operations? Three times more this year than last.²

The technology is here. It’s everywhere.

And yet—only 29% of firms are seeing substantial impact.¹

That’s the gap. Not the technology. The adoption.

McKinsey found that AI high performers—the firms actually seeing meaningful results—are three times more likely to have senior leaders who demonstrate ownership and commitment to AI initiatives.³ Leadership here isn’t just setting strategy. It’s role-modeling the behavior. Getting hands-on. Being the champion.

Here’s what stops me in my tracks: only 6% of employees feel very comfortable using AI in their roles.⁴

We have the tools. We don’t have the adoption.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth—there’s no pool of talent out there that’s really good at this stuff. That’s not how it works. You’re not going to find them waiting on the sidelines.

The talent you need is most likely the talent you already have.

Your leaders. Your team members. Getting their hands in managing data with AI. Using it to do more with what they have. Building processes and skills on top of it.

This is the new war for talent. The war is within.

Here’s what the numbers say: 87% of companies worldwide already experience or anticipate a significant skills gap.⁵ IDC estimates these shortages could cost the global economy $5.5 trillion by 2026.⁶ AI-exposed roles are evolving 66% faster than other positions and command a 56% wage premium.⁷

The gap widens every day you wait.

The question isn’t whether someone has a great résumé or came from the right firm. It’s whether they can transcend this change. Maybe they’re amazing relationally—and they always will be. But behind the scenes, you’re going to need bots and agents and skills executing the deep work.

That combination is what drives value now.

I don’t think you’re going to hire as many people this year. I don’t think you need to.

What I do think? You can make your team wholly more efficient if you embrace this. It’ll save you money. You’ll have a team that’s far more empowered to do meaningful work.

But it requires something from you.

Question everything with your IT department. Challenge them—help me have the tooling I need. Same with compliance. It can all be accomplished.

Don’t take no for an answer. Push in. Get clearer.

Your people want this. 51% of workers say enhanced training is their top priority for improving AI outcomes.⁸ And here’s the kicker—36% of employees planning to resign cite inadequate training as a driving factor.⁴

Invest in your people or lose them to someone who will.

This is the new era. It’s going to be an adventure. Truly exciting—and probably a little scary for your team.

But if you can understand this, adopt it in your mind, and be the champion it requires? You can transform how work happens. You can make your business far better.

Go change the way you work today.

Good luck out there.

Footnotes:

¹ EY, “GenAI in Wealth & Asset Management Survey 2025” (September 2025)

² RBC and Campden Wealth, “The North America Family Office Report 2025” (October 2025)

³ McKinsey & Company, “The State of AI in 2025: Agents, Innovation, and Transformation” (November 2025)

⁴ Universum, “Talent Outlook 2025”

⁵ McKinsey, as cited in TalentGuard, “From Skills Gaps to AI-Powered Career Growth” (March 2025)

⁶ IDC Analyst Brief, “Closing the Gap: Verifying AI Skills in the Enterprise” (2025)

⁷ PwC, “2025 AI Jobs Barometer”

⁸ SHRM, “From Adoption to Empowerment: Shaping the AI-Driven Workforce of Tomorrow” (July 2025)

Episode 126: On this week’s episode, Kyle Van Pelt sits down with Sarah Simmer, Partner and Senior Wealth Advisor at Heritage Wealth Advisors. Sarah delivers customized wealth management and tax planning services to individuals and families, with a special focus on multi-generational households.

Sarah and Kyle discuss what world-class client experience truly requires, especially for ultra-high-net-worth families. She shares the tactical side of scaling a white-glove firm, highlighting the importance of rigorous client segmentation, the courage to have difficult fee conversations, and and how data can be used to determine exactly who you should and shouldn’t be serving. 

In this episode:

(00:00) – Intro

(03:10) – Sarah’s money moment

(06:11) – How Sarah’s mother influenced her career in wealth management

(09:13) – How an auditor’s mindset translates to serving high-net-worth families

(10:30) – What client experience means for ultra-high-net-worth families

(13:16) – How Sarah uncovers and manages client expectations

(17:55) – Why proactively discussing fees can reinforce value

(22:46) – How Heritage scales white-glove service to ultra-high-net-worth clients

(30:03) – How a scaled white-glove service feels personalized

(34:08) – Sarah’s outlook on the future of the financial services industry

(36:22) – Sarah’s Milemarker Minute

Its nearing the end of college football season and I will definately ease up on all my college football mentions at some point. This quote by Curt Cignetti was really relevant in what it looks like to lead and build today.

In short, we need to be attacking at all times.

1. Atlanta, GA — January 9

2. Phoenix, AZ —January 26-28

3. Charleston, SC — January 26-28

4. Tysons Corner, VA — February 3

5. Park City, UT — February 5-6

6. San Diego, CA — February 26-28

If you would like to arrange a meeting time, please reply to this email, and we’ll schedule something on the calendar.

Jud Mackrill