Simplifying AI Workshop for Family Offices
A one-day workshop on what AI actually means for your office.
90% of routine work can be supported by AI. The other 10% — where judgement, trust, and discretion matter — is where your office still earns its place. This workshop helps you see the line clearly, and build around it.
Why we built it
Most AI conversations in the family office world start in the wrong place.
They start with tools, demos, and vendor pitches — before the office has answered the questions that actually matter. What should we automate, and what should we never automate? Where does AI fit in our governance, our data, our day-to-day? What does "good" look like in five years?
We built this workshop to slow that conversation down for one day, in a room with peers, and put the four underlying questions on the table: governance and data before productivity; infrastructure and context; the 90/10 boundary; and process before tools.
THE FOUR PROPOSITIONS
Each proposition has been stress-tested with more than 120 family offices across seven cities. The workshop puts them in front of your team and asks: do these hold for you, and what changes if they do?
Governance and data come before productivity
AI productivity gains evaporate quickly when the underlying data is messy, ungoverned, or sitting in systems nobody owns. The first question is not "what can AI do for us" — it is "what is the state of the data and governance we would be pointing it at".
Infrastructure and context determine outcomes
The same AI model produces very different results in two offices, because the surrounding infrastructure, context, and knowledge bases are different. The architecture around the model matters more than the model itself.
The 90/10 boundary
90% of routine work in a family office — drafting, summarising, classifying, reconciling, monitoring — can be meaningfully supported by AI. The remaining 10% is where human judgement, relationships, and discretion are not optional. Drawing that line explicitly is the most important strategic exercise an office can run.
Process before tools
Most failed AI projects in family offices fail because a tool was selected before the underlying process was understood. The workshop reverses that order: map the process, identify the judgement points, then choose tools that fit.
WHO IT'S FOR
The workshop is designed for offices that want to move past the demo stage and make real decisions about AI. We run it in three variants, depending on the audience in the room.
Single Family Offices
For principals and their senior team. Focus is on aligning the family's long-term goals with an AI strategy that fits the office's governance, risk tolerance, and operating model. Where to start, what to protect, and what "good" looks like in five years.
Multi Family Offices
For MFO leadership and operations heads. Focus is on translating AI capabilities into client-facing service quality, internal efficiency, and a defensible position on data and confidentiality across multiple client families.
Service Providers
For firms that serve family offices — wealth managers, law firms, tax advisors, technology providers. Focus is on how AI is reshaping client expectations, where you can add real value, and how to talk credibly about AI with a family office audience.
HOW THE DAY WORKS
A single day, structured in three segments. Small group, peer-led, no slides theatre.
Setting the stage
A grounded view of where AI actually is for family offices today — what is real, what is hype, and the four propositions framed against your office's specific situation. Establishes a shared vocabulary for the rest of the day.
The Practicals
Three working exercises run in sequence. First, mapping your office's 90/10 boundary — what is automatable versus what must stay human. Second, an honest audit of your data and governance readiness. Third, a process-before-tools mapping of one or two high-value workflows you would consider for AI support.
A 30-day plan
The day ends with each participant leaving with a concrete 30-day plan — three to five actions, with owners and outcomes, that move the office from conversation to motion. Nothing abstract, nothing theoretical.
WHAT YOU WALK AWAY WITH
The workshop is designed to leave you with deliverables, not just impressions.
A clearly drawn 90/10 boundary
For your office, in writing — what AI can support, and where human judgement must remain.
A data and governance readiness baseline
An honest view of what is in place, what is missing, and what needs to happen before any AI deployment is sensible.
One or two mapped workflows
A process-level view of the work that AI could realistically support in your office in the next twelve months.
A shared vocabulary
Across your team — principals, operators, and advisors — so future AI conversations start from the same definitions.
A 30-day plan
Three to five concrete actions, with named owners and expected outcomes.
WHERE WE'VE RUN IT
The workshop has been delivered to more than 120 family offices across seven cities: Los Angeles · Chicago · New York · Copenhagen · Zurich · Cape Town · Singapore.
120+
Family offices in the room
7
Cities to date
3
Audience variants
1
Day, end to end
"It was the first AI conversation we have had that did not start with a vendor. We left with a 30-day plan instead of a shopping list."
Placeholder name
COO, Single Family Office
"The 90/10 framing changed the way our team talks about AI. We finally have a shared vocabulary across investment, ops, and the principal."
Placeholder name
Head of Operations, Multi-Family Office
Built with practitioners
Facilitated by people who have been inside family offices.
Each session is led by Simple partners and advisors who work with principals and their teams day-to-day. Their profiles, bios, and contact details are kept up-to-date in the Simple Experts directory.
Martin Stadler
Martin's unique experience of working with family offices has allowed him to identify changes in the industry, including organisational and technical transformations, the needs of the next generation, and how UHNW families work with financial service providers.
Jimmy Otterdijks
Originally from the Netherlands, Jimmy thrives on understanding each individual's and organisation's needs to find out what makes them tick. He leads strategic partnerships at Simple, focusing on experiential pilots for family offices and service providers.
Francois Botha
Francois is the founder of Simple. He comes from an academic background in strategic business and brand management, and grew up working in a family-owned luxury travel business in Cape Town, South Africa.
Oliver Yorke
Connecting capital with impact — rethinking investment models for a more resilient future. Oliver bridges gaps between investors, funding models, and underserved sectors to drive systemic change.
Tell us about your office.
If you would like to host a session for your office, your network, or your team, get in touch. We will come back within 48 hours with availability and the next steps.