Private AI for RIAs

Which SEC rules apply when an RIA uses AI?

No SEC rule prohibits an RIA from using AI. The SEC's AI-specific proposal was withdrawn, so the existing rules govern instead. Rule 204-2 — the books-and-records rule — treats AI-assisted advice and communications as potential records the firm must retain and produce, and amended Regulation S-P treats any third-party AI tool that receives client information as a service provider the firm has to oversee. What the rules impose is a diligence burden: a firm has to understand where client data goes, who holds it, and whether it trains someone else's model.

That burden is exactly what a private deployment collapses. When the AI runs inside the firm's own environment, the analysis shifts from overseeing an outside vendor's data practices under Reg S-P to applying the firm's own controls — a question firms already know how to answer. For the full breakdown of Rule 204-2, the amended Regulation S-P, and where the compliance perimeter really sits, read our deep dive on the books-and-records rule and AI at your RIA.

How is Deepvine different from ChatGPT or Copilot for an RIA?

The difference is the environment: Deepvine runs in your infrastructure instead of a shared public cloud. General assistants like ChatGPT and Copilot are powerful, but they were built for the open internet, not for a firm that has to account for where every piece of client information travels — the exact question Reg S-P now turns on.

Deepvine connects to your CRM, portfolio and planning systems, email, and Slack, and it is backfilled with your firm's own client history so its answers come from your records rather than the public web. Your data stays in your control, and your inputs are never used to train models that other organizations share. The result is an assistant that actually knows your clients, your accounts, and your institutional history — not a generic one you have to keep re-explaining your book of business to.

What can advisers actually do with it?

Advisers use Deepvine to find and reuse the firm's own knowledge without hunting through folders or emailing colleagues who may have left. Because the system is grounded in the firm's actual records, every answer points back to its source.

• Client history retrievalsurface the meeting notes, planning documents, and past decisions the firm has already captured for a given household.
• Institutional knowledge from departed advisersrecover the reasoning and relationship history that used to live only in one person's head.
• Prep and review contextpull the background an adviser needs to walk into a review or understand an account quickly.
• Grounded draftingdraft client communications and summaries anchored in the firm's own records rather than generic language.
• Source-cited answers in Slackask a question where the team already works and get an answer with citations back to the underlying records.

What does deployment look like?

Deployment is a managed process, not a weekend software install. It moves through four stages: connection, backfill, daily diffs, and ongoing maintenance.

First we connect Deepvine to your existing systems. Then we backfill your historical client records so the assistant starts with real institutional memory instead of a blank slate. From there, daily diffs keep the knowledge base current as new documents and messages are created, and we handle managed maintenance so your team is not responsible for operating the system. To see the mechanics in more detail, visit how it works and our security overview.

1. 1
   ConnectWe connect Deepvine to your existing systems.
2. 2
   BackfillHistorical client records load so it starts with real institutional memory.
3. 3
   Daily diffsNew documents and messages keep the knowledge base current.
4. 4
   Managed maintenanceWe operate the system so your team does not have to.

Which RIAs is this built for?

Deepvine is built for advisory firms where years of client histories, meeting notes, planning documents, and email hold institutional memory that is concentrated in a handful of people. That is where a firm has enough accumulated knowledge to make retrieval genuinely valuable, but not so much internal engineering that it would build this itself.

If your firm carries a deep book of business, relies on relationship history and past decisions, and would feel real pain if a senior adviser retired tomorrow, this is built for you. You can read more about who we are and why we build this way on our about page.