Navigating today’s wealth management landscape isn’t merely about making good investments. It’s about competency, trust, and delivering value that resonates at every touchpoint, starting with the very first proposal. At this year’s Future Proof Festival, VRGL CEO Kyle Zasky shared pivotal insights about his company’s mission, the challenges facing financial advisors, and why the next leap in advisory technology is as much about human confidence as it is about algorithmic speed.
A CEO Forged by Experience
Kyle Zasky’s rise to the helm of VRGL is the product of three decades traversing entrepreneurial ventures, investment banking, venture capital, and fintech operations. Each step, Zasky emphasizes, laid the groundwork for what VRGL offers today: “I’ve had about four iterations in my career, and I’m trying to bring something from each of those iterations to the table at VRGL. Originally, I was an entrepreneur so I bring that entrepreneurial spirit. Then I had about a decade as an investment banker and venture capitalist covering the tech and wealthtech spaces. And I was a COO-for-hire of LayerOne Financial, which was focused on portfolio management, risk analytics, and data for the hedge fund community. Even though the customer segment is different, data and analytics, useful information, is always part of the puzzle. ”
Having joined VRGL as CEO just 100 days prior to the interview, Zasky is clear-eyed about his mission: “I want to make magic—a third time. ”
Understanding the Advisor’s Pain Points
For most financial advisors, client acquisition is both critical and daunting. Zasky distills the core anxiety advisors feel: “Client acquisition is painful for everyone because it’s not easy to do. Most acquisition, referrals are obviously a great channel. But you can’t rely on referrals, particularly if you’re at the beginning of building your book as an advisor. The challenge for advisors is confidence level. ”
VRGL steps into this gap, arming advisors with actionable, granular data about prospects’ portfolios, historical fees, concentrations, and risk appetites. Zasky explains the significance for new advisors: “Even if you’re lacking that confidence as a new person, we’re arming you, so you feel more confident walking in the door. It resonates, subconsciously, with a prospect—‘Do I want to do business with some scared kid who’s never met his money before, or somebody who knows what he’s talking about when he comes in? ’”
Automation, AI, and the Magic Behind the Curtain
What distinguishes VRGL from the sea of other wealthtech solutions? At its core is a robust blend of AI-powered data extraction, institutional-grade analytics, and workflow automation. Unlike platforms that demand tedious manual portfolio analysis, VRGL can take everything from PDFs to handwritten notes and—via automated servers—parse, organize, and present analytics in a matter of minutes.
Zasky puts it succinctly: “We couldn’t do what we do as quickly, efficiently, and accurately, if you weren’t employing AI behind the scenes. Before VRGL, all advisors had to maybe put welyled holes in front of their customers—and how did they do it? Humans with spreadsheets, assistants humping through somebody’s brokerage statements for 10 hours. We’re just truncating the time-to-market down from what could be days or weeks to a matter of minutes—and time is money, and it helps these guys with efficiency. ”
The result? Proposals and reports that are not only fast, but truly reflective of a firm’s unique value. VRGL’s updated platform introduces fully customizable investment classification and reporting capabilities—letting advisory practices brand reports, articulate proprietary investment methodologies, automate data transformation, and maintain firmwide consistency at scale. With its modern report designer, advisors can present performance, diversification, risk, fees, and tax analytics in visually compelling formats tailor-made for each client’s situation.
Not Just Prospecting—An Eye on Client Retention
While VRGL’s present focus is the proposal and client acquisition stage, Zasky is candid about future ambitions: “We sit in the prospecting stage, and we’re very narrow right now, but even though narrowly, we do it better than anyone else. I’m asking myself, what other value propositions should VRGL be in the business of providing to our existing customers? Maybe — trusts, wills, estate planning. We’ll still rely on our core competency, which is data extraction—the fundamental basis for those future kinds of things. ”
This philosophy highlights why VRGL stands out: relentless focus on doing one thing exceptionally well—but with a roadmap that looks to deliver deeper value along the entire client relationship arc.
Overcoming Tech Anxiety—For Advisors and Clients Alike
One of the silent obstacles in adopting new technology is not functionality, but psychological resistance—what Zasky calls “AI anxiety. ” He reflects: “There’s a lot of AI anxiety out there. We’re at a big conference right now, and there were six or seven demos last night about these new AI tools. If you’re an advisor, already overwhelmed with vendors and trying to grow yourself organically, demographics lean slightly higher in age. a lot of people are just feeling anxiety: ‘Oh, I’m not using these tools, I’m missing out. My peers must be getting all this new business because they’re using “AI” and I’m not. ’”
VRGL works to allay those fears, ensuring onboarding is approachable and value is quickly apparent: “Don’t be anxious about it. We’re going to help make it easy for you to use, integrate it to your workflow. It’s strong value, affordable, and easy to onboard. AI anxiety is a real thing, tech anxiety is a real thing. ‘You can’t teach a dog new tricks’—it’s a wrong statement. You can. It’s just, how do you do it, and how do you bring the demographic of our customer base along so you keep them relevant five years from now? ”
The Human Touch in an Automated Age
The future of wealthtech may be digital, but Zasky is adamant that no platform—however sophisticated—can replace the human element: “Technology is going to replace some of the value… in terms of the data and the management of running money. Everything’s going to become more automated. . . But fundamentally, for the portion of society that chooses a financial advisor, there’s something else they’re looking for. That human connection. That’s why I use the word therapist. You might be able to get an automated spit out from AI as a starting point, but people are looking to be heard as much as they’re looking for advice. Listening skills are critical. ”
Why VRGL Matters
Inconsistent, labor-intensive reporting processes and anxiety over technology shouldn’t impede an advisor’s confidence or client experience. VRGL’s platform isn’t just about speed—it’s about empowering advisors to operate with certainty, project authority, and create trust from the first meeting.
As the industry continues to change at lightning speed, Zasky and VRGL remain committed to streamlining what great advisors do best—building lasting relationships, delivering value efficiently, and leaning into human empathy that no algorithm can replace.
For more information about VRGL, visit them here.