The Currency of Trust: AI, Athletes, and Building a Modern RIA

I sat down with Nisiar Smith, founder and CEO of Courtside Wealth, for an episode of The AI-Native Advisor Podcast that hit on a theme I keep coming back to.

Trust is still the real asset in wealth management.

Not returns.
Not technology.
Not even scale.

Trust.

Nisiar works with a client base where trust is not given freely. Professional athletes, entertainers, coaches, entrepreneurs. People with money, attention, and no shortage of people trying to get close to them. Everyone wants something from them. Everyone claims to be different.

So the bar is higher.

What stood out immediately in our conversation is that Courtside wasn’t built around a niche for marketing reasons. It was built around a reality. These clients live on schedules that are unforgiving. Their financial lives are complex. And they don’t have patience for inefficiency, fluff, or advisors who aren’t prepared.

That constraint shapes everything about how Nisiar runs his firm.

Trust Is Built in the Margins

One of the most important things Nisiar shared is how he thinks about time.

Athletes don’t have “extra” time. You don’t get to wander through a meeting. You don’t get to rehash old ground. You need to show up already knowing what matters.

That’s where preparation becomes a form of respect.

Nisiar is obsessive about walking into meetings with full context. What was discussed last time. What decisions were deferred. What life events are coming up. What changed since the last conversation.

Not because technology makes that possible.
Because the relationship demands it.

The tech is just the leverage.

AI as Leverage, Not a Shortcut

Like many advisors, Nisiar initially looked at AI through a practical lens. How do I onboard clients faster. How do I prep for meetings better. How do I follow up more cleanly. How do I make sure nothing slips through the cracks when I’m traveling or meeting clients in person.

But what became clear is that he’s not chasing automation for its own sake.

He’s using AI to protect the human parts of the business.

Client onboarding is one example. For his demographic, getting complete information is genuinely hard. These clients aren’t sitting at desks filling out forms. They’re on the road, at practice, in season.

So the question becomes how do you design an onboarding experience that works in the real world they live in, not the one advisors wish they lived in.

Meeting prep is another. Nisiar wants AI doing the background work so that when he’s in the room, the room is about the relationship, not the checklist.

That distinction matters.

The Back Office Exists to Get Out of the Way

Courtside recently launched an affiliated CPA firm. Not as an add-on. As a structural decision.

Tax strategy, planning, investment management, all under one roof, coordinated intentionally.

What Nisiar is building is a system where the back office runs quietly and efficiently so the front office can be fully present.

That’s where his vision for AI goes next.

Not more tools.
Not more dashboards.

But systems that understand how the firm actually operates.

AI copilots that know firm philosophy.
Workflows that reflect how clients are really served.
Infrastructure that scales the firm without diluting trust.

Scaling the Unscalable

There’s a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in our industry. “High-touch.”

What Nisiar is doing is showing what that actually means when you try to scale it.

High-touch isn’t about more meetings.
It’s about better preparation.
Cleaner handoffs.
Fewer dropped balls.
More consistency.

AI doesn’t replace that. It enables it.

And in markets where everyone is chasing the same clients, consistency is often the difference.

Why This Conversation Matters

This episode isn’t about tools.
It’s not about predictions.

It’s about building a modern RIA where trust compounds instead of erodes as you grow.

Nisiar is early in Courtside’s journey, but the intentionality is already there. Clear client focus. Clear standards. Clear boundaries. Clear philosophy around how technology should serve the relationship, not the other way around.

For any founder-led RIA thinking about growth, differentiation, or how to use AI without losing their soul, this conversation is worth your time.

Because in the end, trust is still the currency that matters most.

And everything else should exist to protect it.