Humanity Labs  ·  Discovery
Work in progress  ·  22:38

How we found them  ·  Engaging them  ·  The deck

Prototypes

What a perfect fit looks like.

Marty Bicknell of Mariner set the pattern for the list. Grad Conn named three more leaders as models. Jamie Price is still moving toward the model.

Prototypes

Prototypical example

Marty Bicknell7/10

Marty Bicknell

Chairman and CEO · Overland Park, KS

Mariner

In RIABiz, Sep 12

He is replacing the advisory industry's hire-in-step-with-clients growth model with a contracted AI workforce of 700 full-time equivalents run under human direction.

“Just about every firm in our industry has grown the same way: serve more clients, hire more people," said Bicknell. "That model has a ceiling, and we decided to break it.” investmentnews.com
Why 7 out of 10
  • Growth or investment stage: 2 of 2
    Acquired Atlas Financial and Newport Advisory (about $878 million AUM), December 2024; 126 offices, target of 5,000 advisors by 2027
  • Firm size: 0.4 of 2
    about 2,500 people
  • Transformation mindset: 1.5 of 2
    Sees the shift, First principles, Challenges the status quo
  • A recent, costly change: 0.9 of 1
    2 costly actions on record, latest in 2026
  • Warm introduction: 1 of 1
    documented path to Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn
  • In the news: 1 of 1
    in the news 2026-09-12
  • Long-term mindset: 0 of 1
    no long-term statement found
How the score works

Stood up to review

  1. Acted on it (2026)“For Mariner, the partnership represents an operating model decision.” morningstar.com
  2. Confirmed by a second source“Mariner has signed a five-year agreement to embed more than 700 AI full-time equivalents across its operations, betting that the move will let the national advisory firm expand capacity without following the industry's usual...” investmentnews.com
and 6 other conditions met
  • We found the name in data a research route pulled
  • We found each quote on the page it cites (3 of 3)
  • Evidence comes from 3 separate pages on 3 sites
  • Not on the reference list of 53 already-recognised people
  • Thinks from first principles (a checked quote supports it)
  • A reviewer tried to knock the name down, and it stood
1 step from Andrei Pop
Andrei Pop → Marty Bicknell
How they connect

Bicknell's firm Mariner signed a five-year, 700-FTE AI workforce contract with Humanity Labs, the company Andrei Pop founded and leads.

  • Andrei Pop to Marty Bicknell: Mariner (led by Bicknell) is the customer in a five-year partnership with Pop's Humanity Labs investmentnews.com

Found through Route 20

Prototypical example

Anthony McCusker4/10

Anthony McCusker

Chairman · Boston, MA

Goodwin Procter LLP

As chair he committed Goodwin to about $25 million a year to build its own AI products, starting with a lawyer-built venture financing tool on a firm operating system, to move a million lawyer hours a year to...

“The financing tool is powered by a custom version of Anthropic’s Claude platform and will provide the basis for programs in other practice areas, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity, litigation and fund formation, McCusker...” abajournal.com
Why 4 out of 10
  • Growth or investment stage: 2 of 2
    Record $2.7 billion revenue, up more than 12%, for year ending Sept 2025, with strategic lateral hires
  • Firm size: 0.4 of 2
    about 2,800 people
  • Transformation mindset: 1.5 of 2
    Sees the shift, First principles, Trusted influence
  • A recent, costly change: 0.5 of 1
    0 costly actions on record, latest in 2026
  • Warm introduction: 0 of 1
    no documented path yet
  • In the news: 0 of 1
    not in the news in the last 60 days
  • Long-term mindset: 0 of 1
    no long-term statement found
How the score works

Stood up to review

and 7 other conditions met
  • We found the name in data a research route pulled
  • We found each quote on the page it cites (2 of 2)
  • Evidence comes from 2 separate pages on 2 sites
  • Not on the reference list of 53 already-recognised people
  • Thinks from first principles (a checked quote supports it)
  • Wants to transform (a checked quote supports it)
  • A reviewer tried to knock the name down, and it stood

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 334

Prototypical example, named by Grad Conn

Eugene Ludwig

Eugene Ludwig

Founder and CEO, Ludwig Advisors; Chair, LISEP; Managing Partner, Canapi Ventures · Washington, DC

Ludwig Advisors

Named by Grad Conn as a model: a former chief bank regulator who founded and ran a 600-person regulatory consulting firm (Promontory) for nearly two decades and bet its future on pairing expert people with...

“At LISEP, we have long advocated for more-responsive and real-world-reflective metrics to measure economic performance. Relying on less accurate, incomplete, and less-transparent data will only lead to misinformed economic policy.” lisep.org
  1. Acted on it (2016)“Promontory's 600 professionals and offerings will form the foundation of new Watson Financial Services portfolio from IBM's Industry Platforms business” en.prnasia.com
and 5 other conditions met
  • We found the name in data a research route pulled
  • We found each quote on the page it cites (5 of 5)
  • Evidence comes from 3 separate pages on 3 sites
  • Not on the reference list of 53 already-recognised people
  • Thinks from first principles (a checked quote supports it)

We are still tracing a path to Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Named by Grad Conn as a prototype

Prototypical example, named by Grad Conn

Tim Stonehocker

CEO and President, Americo Life; President, Americo Financial Life and Annuity · Kansas City, MO

Americo

Named by Grad Conn as a model: the chief executive of a large, independent, privately held Kansas City life and annuity group with no public shareholders or private equity owner to answer to.

  1. Acted on it (2026)“This partnership with Annexus represents a significant milestone for Americo as we expand our footprint in the fixed indexed annuity market.” annexus.com
  2. Confirmed by a second source“We listen to what you want from an insurance policy and do our best to provide a proper solution for your individual situation. Innovative thinking has helped us build a strong financial foundation for our business.” annexus.com
and 5 other conditions met
  • We found the name in data a research route pulled
  • We found each quote on the page it cites (4 of 4)
  • Evidence comes from 3 separate pages on 3 sites
  • Not on the reference list of 53 already-recognised people
  • 1 further costly action on record

We are still tracing a path to Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Named by Grad Conn as a prototype

Developing prototypes

Developing prototype, named by Grad Conn

Jamie Price7/10

Jamie Price

CEO · Scottsdale, AZ

Osaic

He took a wealth firm built from separately branded broker-dealers and spent 2023 to 2025 merging them into one operating platform and one brand, then made AI a central part of its growth plan, the same...

“Having Sayee aboard enables us to embrace technology and AI as a central part of our growth strategy as we continue to build a differentiated, integrated platform for financial advisors.” osaic.com
  1. Acted on it (2023)“Advisor Group said this spring it will merge its eight affiliated broker-dealers under a single, yet-to-be named brand in a process that will take up to two years.” digitaledition.investmentnews.com
and 5 other conditions met
  • We found the name in data a research route pulled
  • We found each quote on the page it cites (5 of 5)
  • Evidence comes from 3 separate pages on 2 sites
  • Not on the reference list of 53 already-recognised people
  • Thinks from first principles (a checked quote supports it)

We are still tracing a path to Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Named by Grad Conn as a prototype