The Wealth business unit is rapidly declining in appeal. What is Bob's strategy to address this? Given the circumstances, is his expertise more aligned with business leadership or technical operations?
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AI will eventually destroy wealth management as we know it. It's just a matter of time.
A deeper problem is the deep-seated instinct for self-preservation among those in power. Their primary focus is not innovation or the broader good, but fiercely protecting their personal "fiefdoms," perks, and status. This often comes at the direct expense of the organization's long-term health and future viability.
Furthermore, a "mafia-like" culture is deeply entrenched. This refers to an informal network of reciprocal favors, protection, and unspoken loyalties that overrides formal rules. A common manifestation is the dubious practice of "patent bribing," where managers are included on patent applications despite having no contribution, simply for political leverage.
Within this toxic environment, challenging the established order triggers swift, often career-limiting, retribution. Information is tightly controlled, dissent is suppressed, and promotions are managed solely to ensure loyalty to the inner circle, not competence. This combination of self-serving motives, fear-based governance, and structural inadequacy makes genuine, disruptive innovation from within virtually impossible.
The coming wave of Artificial Intelligence poses an existential threat to these dysfunctional systems. AI, with its capacity for efficiency, objective analysis, and relentless optimization, will not tolerate incompetence. It is immune to the motives of self-preservation and cannot be intimidated by the internal "mafia." For the organizational "dinosaurs" who rely on these broken structures for their existence, AI represents not a tool for improvement, but the very impact event they are woefully ill-equipped to survive.
55+ are there any left? The replaceable fools in the HR function and leadership at the top got rid of most as young labor was cheaper and the pronoun crowd blindly more interested in a weekly pizza reward and working from home instead of meritocracy, performance and the wealth of great compensation and shares. It seems the culture is unrecognizable from what it was and many angry frustrated staff more interested in pointing fingers than performing. The many dinosaurs reference, built the company…by hard work, team work, loyalty and commitment. WE were (and are) rewarded in many ways that many of you will never achieve. You little ankle biters who want to complain about everything should move on and make Fidelity great again.
Bob is the best guy . Too many powerpoint guys in wealth.. All grade8+ who can't write code should be thrown out
Get used to the mandates from on high, make it happen, failure is not an option
What people call the “dinosaur problem” at Fidelity may not have anything to do with age. It may instead be about structural incentives, career-stacking, and the way power preserves itself inside a closed leadership ecosystem. Too many leaders climbed the ladder not by leading but by perfecting the art of enforcing the system. That’s not leadership. That’s institutional obedience dressed up as expertise.
I witnessed all of this firsthand. I watched people get “managed out,” CRMs scrubbed like crime scenes for something to we-ponize, calls audited with termination basically pre-decided, U4s turned into ankle monitors, and reps neutralized before they could ever dare think about competing. Leaders weren’t rewarded for developing people, they were rewarded for eliminating ‘risks’ with efficiency. That’s not a leadership culture. That’s defensive bureaucracy doing its best impression of leadership. No imagination. No talent development and absolutely no vision. Just institutional self-preservation with a name badge.
All dinosaurs are more than 55+, you have to be old to be SVp, and they dig the career graves of all the young people, there is no way they are going away. Good riddance to young people lol, especially in ET that's the open secret
To survive, Fidelity must embrace change and recognize that the "dinosaur" era must end. The long-term presence (20+ years) and promotion of these individuals and their skewed worldviews are a threat to the firm's future, making their immediate departure necessary for the company's survival.