UBS has deployed AI avatars of 36 analysts to create video content at scale, accelerating how financial institutions deliver research insights. This development is an example of both a shift towards “digital twins” of knowledge workers, as well as the impact AI has on the quality and quantity of thought leadership content that can be created. This week, we look into this example in more detail.
Focus On: When Thought Leaders Clone Themselves
UBS has quietly launched AI avatars of their research analysts. Using OpenAI and Synthesia tools, the Swiss bank can now generate video explanations of research notes in seconds, featuring digital versions of their human experts.
The numbers tell the story of constrained capacity vs. virtually unlimited demand. UBS analysts were producing an average of two research notes weekly but could only visit the video studio quarterly, capping annual video output at roughly 1,000 pieces. Client appetite for video content, however, far exceeded this capacity.
Scott Solomon, UBS’s head of global research technology, frames the avatar technology as simply another tool in an analyst’s arsenal—comparable to Excel or CRM software. “When an analyst joins UBS, we give them Excel, we give them our authoring platform, we give them a CRM tool so they can talk to clients. I want them to have an avatar,” he explains in the article.
A B2B Marketing Silver Bullet?
The combination of large language models, like ChatGPT or Claude, and advanced video technologies such as Synthesia or HeyGen, show brands how to amplify the best people reach without burning them out, or requiring significant investments in creative operations.
Of course not everything is, and should, be automated. Human content producers behind their avatar review the script and validate the final video before pushing it live. The video itself clarifies to the audience they are watching an avatar of their favourite thought leader, yet are reassured the content comes from the author, not an AI.
As a result, AI avatars offer a pathway to abundance without authenticity erosion. Unlike generic AI-generated content, these avatars maintain the personal connection and expertise credibility that clients value while removing the logistical constraints that limit output.
The model can very well extend beyond banking to embrace pretty much every brand relying on thought leadership and expert insight. Imagine consulting firms scaling their senior partners’ insights, technology companies amplifying their CTOs’ vision, or professional services firms ensuring their best practitioners can engage every client personally—even when they can’t be there physically.
Early evidence suggests clients are responding positively to avatar-delivered content, possibly because the alternative isn’t human-delivered video—it’s no video at all. When the choice is between an AI avatar of a trusted analyst and a text-only research note, the avatar wins.
This mirrors broader enterprise communication trends we’ve observed in previous issues of Chronicles of Change, where organisations increasingly leverage AI to maintain personal touch at scale rather than choosing between personalisation and efficiency.
The Operational Revolution
This pilot reveals the true transformative potential of the technology. It is in fact easy to imagine a very near future where publishing a research note automatically generates an accompanying avatar video—no human intervention required beyond a final review.
But again, this can easily go well beyond thought leadership, for example:
Sales and Business Development: Top performers could scale their relationship-building activities across hundreds of prospects simultaneously. HeyGen is particularly famous for this specific application.
Training and Development: Subject matter experts could deliver personalised instruction to unlimited audiences without time constraints, accelerating internal learning and development delivery at a time when upskilling requirements change constantly.
Customer Success: Your best customer advocates could engage every client personally, regardless of account size or geographic location, delivering white gloves post-sale service even to smaller accounts.
Strategic Considerations
For leaders evaluating similar initiatives, a few factors emerge as critical:
Brand Control and Governance: Who owns the avatar? How do you ensure consistency across multiple digital representations of the same individual? What happens when that person leaves the organisation?
Client Expectation Management: How do you frame AI-generated content to maintain trust whilst delivering unprecedented scale?
Human Capital Strategy: How does avatar technology change your approach to hiring, developing, and retaining top talent when their impact can be multiplied exponentially?
The most successful implementations will likely treat avatars not as replacements for human expertise but as amplifiers—allowing your best people to focus on high-value in-person interactions whilst their digital twins handle routine, yet highly sought after, communication.
Rather than asking “how do we scale our people,” organisations can begin asking “how do we scale our expertise.”
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in Chronicles of Change and on my social media accounts are my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of S&P Global.