AI takes the spotlight as 7 fintechs pitch their products to advisors

When Matt Middleton, founder and CEO of Future Proof, first put out the call for an AI-focused demo drop, he didn't know what kind of response he would receive.

Usually his instinct would be to make it a big tent, but he decided to focus on little-known AI-native fintechs serving the wealth management industry. For Future Proof's previous demo drops, he'd receive around 80 applications. For the AI-specific event, he got over 100.

That pool was cut down to around 60, then further winnowed down with the help of a panel of internal and external judges, said Middleton.

"From there, we cut it down based on the number of time slots we have for that given session," he said. "Because we want to make it fast-paced."

READ MORE: Advisors clamor for estate planning tools as attorneys wave red flags

The result? Seven firms, each given seven minutes on Future Proof's main stage on the fest's opening night to make the case for their services during the very first AI Demo Drop in Huntington Beach, California.

Diana Cabrices, founder of Diana Cabrices Consulting, emceed the event.

READ MORE: How much time AI saves advisors — and how they spend it

"AI has quickly become the heartbeat of some of the best technology out there. And again, AI is going to be everything we're going to see on this stage today," Cabrices said in her introduction. "It's quickly outperforming human tasks and doing it at record speeds and at unseen levels of intelligence."

Here are the seven firms that made the cut, and how executives from each pitched their products: