Demystifying AI Adoption in Financial Services With Geoff Moore

Geoff Moore is the CIO of Valmark Financial Group, a financial services agency working exclusively with entrepreneurial wealth management firms to meet its clients' unique and ever-changing needs. He leads a team of experts who use technology to solve business challenges and manage the cybersecurity of Valmark and its member firms. Geoff has over 20 years of experience in technology and financial services and was selected to the Surge Ventures Industry Council for his expertise in cybersecurity for financial service firms in 2022. In this episode… AI is rapidly transforming financial services, but many advisors and organizations still struggle to move beyond basic tools and experiments into reliable, secure automation. With questions around compliance, human judgment, technical complexity, and whether to build or buy AI solutions, how can firms turn AI's potential into practical business value? Geoff Moore, an expert in financial services technology, cybersecurity, and AI implementation, recommends focusing on practical use cases that increase capacity rather than on replacing human expertise. He emphasizes keeping humans involved when judgment matters, validating AI outputs, establishing safety and compliance guardrails, and getting technical assistance to move promising automations across the 15-yard line to completion. Geoff also suggests treating organization-wide AI skills like software, using practices such as source control, while exploring advanced tools, connectors, and workflows to deliver greater productivity. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews Geoff Moore, Chief Information Officer at Valmark Financial Group, about practical AI adoption in financial services. Geoff also discusses the 15-yard line problem, AI compliance and security, and the future of connected AI-powered systems.