Best AI IAR CE: Craig Turner’s Live Q&A
Looking for the best AI IAR CE to sharpen your skills as an Investment Adviser Representative (IAR)? Read on for insights from the Q&A portion that followed Craig Turner's first live webinar, where he showed how AI transforms advisory practices. In this in-depth recap, you’ll discover real-world examples, the most impactful tools, and expert advice on how to integrate AI into your day-to-day work to better serve clients and grow your practice.
Why Craig’s Webinars Are Among the Best AI IAR CE Available
I spent many hours looking for an AI expert who could teach advisors, but knew Craig Turner would be a great instructor for Advisors4Advisors in an instant. Craig is a serial entrepreneur, former newspaper reporter and author of nine novels. In 2020, long before ChatGPT made AI a mainstream app in March 2024, Craig wrote a thriller about an AI-generated politician. He realized he knew a lot about AI and has now become a nationally-recognized AI educator and consultant.
Craig has trained more than 900 organizations on integrating AI into their operations. Craig specializes in helping Chambers of Commerce, as well as Chamber members -- small businesses, nonprofits, and financial professionals -- harness AI as a strategic tool. Craig currently serves as interim executive for the Niagara USA Chamber of Commerce, giving him hands-on experience in operational leadership and economic development.
Craig began the session by recognizing how fast the landscape is evolving, explaining that just weeks after they recorded the original content for the webinar, new developments had already emerged. This constant evolution is precisely why staying up to date through continuing education is critical. Following Craig's classes here on Advisors4Advisors ensures you see important updates firsthand.
Use AI as a Tool, Not a Crutch
When Carole, an advisor in California, attending the class asked about how to open your mind to AI’s possibilities, Craig made a key point: Don’t lean on AI simply to check a box or complete a task so you can move on. Instead, use AI to significantly improve the quality of your work. If you’re preparing a client newsletter, for instance, leverage AI to create something truly engaging and valuable — not just a routine message sent because it’s the usual schedule.
Craig urged attendees to experiment and play with AI, noting that some of the best learning comes from hands-on exploration. Several participants had asked, 'Can AI do this?' His response: 'Ask it!' Even in his personal life, like adjusting to a new cat at home, Craig found AI tools could predict feline behavior remarkably well. This highlights how AI can be both a professional asset and a surprisingly helpful personal assistant.
Experiment With the Big Six AI Platforms
ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Grok, Meta, Claude
Craig outlined what he considers the six major players dominating the AI ecosystem right now. These are ChatGPT (by OpenAI), Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, Grok (by X, formerly Twitter), Meta’s AI tools, and Claude (by Anthropic). Each offers different strengths, interfaces, and integrations. For example, if your daily work lives inside Google Sheets, Gemini’s tight integration could be invaluable. If you rely on Outlook, Microsoft’s Copilot might be the smarter choice.
Craig advised taking advantage of free versions of these platforms. Try them in your everyday workflows to see what sticks. He personally gravitates toward ChatGPT because it continues to release new features that directly solve his problems, such as powerful deep research capabilities.
AI for Deep Research and Client Work
Craig shared how he uses AI for deep research in his Chamber of Commerce role, which often requires him to understand a wide range of topics quickly. He’ll feed a prompt into ChatGPT’s "Deep Research" mode and receive a detailed six-page summary. For Investment Adviser Representatives, this kind of functionality is a game changer. Deep Research mode is built to for heavy research. To compare the algorithms used to calculate GDP nowcasts from the New York and Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank branches, I used Deep Research and blogged about it. Deep Research can help you gather a comprehensive overview of new regulatory proposals, niche investment products, or economic trends — all in minutes.
This is why so many advisors consider sessions like these among the best AI IAR CE offerings available. It’s not just theory or high-level ideas — it’s hands-on demonstrations of exactly how you can use these tools to enhance your day-to-day operations.
Always Keep the Human in the Loop
One attendee, Diane, asked Craig to address the importance of verifying AI-generated outputs. Craig emphasized that while AI is incredibly powerful, it always requires human oversight. When showing how to write a blog post using AI, Craig mentioned that you can never use AI=generated content without reading it. In the financial advisory world, that also means double-checking research summaries, validating calculations, and ensuring recommendations align with each client’s objectives.
Craig also praised OpenAI’s ethics around ChatGPT. For instance, despite announcing an AI video feature in early 2024, they delayed releasing it until November to develop more safeguards against misuse, such as deepfakes. This level of caution gave Craig confidence that AI is advancing in a responsible way — but he still stressed the need for human professionals to guide it.
Easily Import and Analyze Client Data
Andre’s question about importing data, like investment statements, led Craig to demo one of the most practical uses of AI for advisors. With ChatGPT, it’s as simple as clicking the plus sign, uploading your file, and telling the AI exactly what you want it to analyze. Craig recently used this feature to process a Chamber membership list, checking whether companies still existed, verifying contact details, and identifying the right decision makers. In under an hour, he had a clean, updated dataset that would have taken days manually.
Stay Connected and Keep Experimenting
As the session wrapped up, Craig encouraged attendees to stay in touch and continue the conversation. He loves when advisors follow up weeks or months later with success stories about how they implemented ideas from these CE sessions. Whether you’re drafting more effective newsletters, researching complex topics on behalf of clients, or streamlining your internal processes, the key is to approach AI with curiosity and a willingness to experiment.
Final Thoughts: Why This is the Best AI IAR CE for Your Practice
Craig’s approach stands out in the crowded field of continuing education because it blends mindset with practical skill-building. These aren’t just passive webinars; they’re opportunities to rethink how you deliver value to clients and operate your business. For any advisor evaluating the best AI IAR CE options, sessions like this offer the knowledge and encouragement needed to stay competitive in an industry that’s evolving faster than ever.
By integrating AI thoughtfully, maintaining a strong compliance foundation, and keeping the human touch at the center of client relationships, you can use these tools to elevate your practice, not just automate it. That’s the future of high-quality advisory work — and why investing in the best AI IAR CE today will pay dividends for years to come.
