What investors get from Excel that financial AI still hasn’t delivered

For all the noise about AI transforming personal finance, British investors still find their own spreadsheets more useful.

Billions spent on generative technology, defeated by a tab called ‘Final budget v7’.

Research from Boring Money found that spreadsheets are the third most commonly used source of financial information and guidance, behind comparison websites and family and friends. AI tools sit in seventh place.

When investors were asked which sources they found most useful, independent financial advisers came top. Personal spreadsheets were second, followed by family and friends. AI managed sixth. The machines haven’t taken over just yet; they’re currently losing to advisers, relatives and cells with colour-coded borders.

That doesn’t mean investors are ignoring the technology. Almost a quarter of investors and savers with at least £10,000 in investable assets, 23 per cent, have used AI to understand their finances, conduct research or make decisions. Only 4 per cent use it regularly, however, while 13 per cent have used it specifically for financial guidance.

The more useful finding for advisers is why people turn to it.

One of AI’s attractions is that users can ask ‘stupid questions’ without feeling judged. The software doesn’t raise an eyebrow, hurry them along or make them feel embarrassed because they don’t understand a term that everybody else appears to have grasped years ago.

That’s useful technology. It’s also fairly direct feedback for the advice profession.

Clients may arrive at a meeting carrying basic questions they’ve avoided asking for years. They might not understand the difference between funds they already own, how their pension is invested or why a recommendation that made perfect sense six months ago now seems baffling.

If a client feels uncomfortable admitting any of that, they probably won’t ask. They’ll nod, leave the meeting and consult an AI tool later. The adviser may believe everything was clear; the client may be quietly asking a chatbot to translate it into English.

This doesn’t suggest advisers are generally hostile or judgemental. It does show why patience, listening and a relaxed relationship matter. Technical expertise is rather less useful when clients don’t feel able to say they’re confused.

The answer isn’t for advisers to mimic a machine. It’s to concentrate on what the machine can’t offer: judgement, reassurance and an understanding of the person beyond the words typed into a box. That requires time for proper conversations, rather than another evening disappearing into suitability reports.

The Timebank can handle the research, analysis and report writing, leaving advisers to do the work clients still value most.

AI will become more useful. Spreadsheets, apparently, will outlive us all. For now, though, investors still put human advice first. Best not waste the advantage.