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AI in Pensions: Why Trustees Must Keep It on the Agenda

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a future consideration for pension schemes. It is already influencing how members access information, how administrators operate and how risks emerge across the industry. The discussion has moved well beyond using AI simply to draft minutes or transcribe meetings.

The challenge now is adapting to a membership where AI systems are becoming a more trusted source of information than traditional scheme documents and websites, leading to changes in member behaviour, operational resilience, cyber security and governance itself.

The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR’s) message in its recent AI Plan is clear: Trustees remain accountable for decisions and member outcomes regardless of which technologies are used.

The pace of change is significant. TPR references research showing around one third of people already use AI tools to help manage money and personal finances. This creates both opportunity and risk for pension schemes.

AI in pensions from Pi Partnership

Members are increasingly relying on AI-generated answers without ever reaching a scheme website or administrator directly. TPR has already highlighted concerns around AI-generated scams and fraud within the pensions sector.

The key question is therefore whether schemes fully understand the risks and controls associated with AI. Trustees should consider the following questions:

  • Do you understand how AI is being used across your scheme? This includes understanding how administrators, advisers and other service providers are using AI, and whether appropriate controls, oversight and human checks are in place.
  • Have you assessed whether supplier arrangements adequately address AI? Consider whether due diligence processes, contractual arrangement and supplier policies provide sufficient transparency and protection around AI usage.
  • Have you reflected AI risks within your governance framework? Consider whether AI-related risks and opportunities are appropriately captured within risk registers and governance discussions, alongside areas such as cyber security, operational resilience and fraud prevention.
  • Could members be receiving inaccurate information about your scheme from AI tools? As members increasingly use AI-powered search and chat tools to answer pension questions, is your website content, FAQs and member communications regularly reviewed, up to date and easy to access so that accurate information is more likely to be found.
  • How does your approach to AI align with the wider employer strategy? Understanding the employer’s position on AI can help ensure alignment with broader organisational approaches to risk management, cyber resilience and operational planning.

Trustees do not need to become AI experts, but TPR has made it clear that trustees should understand where and how AI is being used across their scheme and by their service providers.

At Pi Partnership, we help trustee boards build awareness through AI-focused governance reviews, provider challenge sessions and training discussions to ensure AI remains an active and evolving agenda item. We see AI as a governance issue rather than a technology discussion. AI sits naturally alongside cyber security, operational resilience and fraud prevention as an area trustees should regularly review and challenge.

Standing still is not an option. AI technology, member behaviour and fraud risks are evolving too quickly. Keeping AI on the agenda at every trustee meeting is increasingly becoming essential for good scheme governance.

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Amanda Burden

Director and Governance Specialist

Amanda is a Board Director of Pi Partnership Group and leads the development of Pi’s services. She works closely with clients, the Pi team and professional advisers to ensure all of Pi’s services meet the changing needs of the pension market and deliver clear value to Pi’s clients.

Amanda has over twenty-five years’ experience in the pensions industry and, as well as ensuring Pi’s services continue to meet the needs of our clients in a rapidly changing pension landscape, is also a member of Pi’s Executive Management Team. She provides specialist project management for clients on a range of services, including adviser selection and review, trustee board assessment and governance design.

As well as being a Fellow of the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) and Chair of the PMI London Group, Amanda holds PMI certificates in Pensions Automatic Enrolment and DC Governance, was a past Prince2 practitioner and is a Certified Risk Management Practitioner.

What do you most enjoy about your role:  Successfully delivering complex projects and creating a happy team environment.

Interests outside work: Travel, theatre and as part of Abundance London helping create beautiful spaces in urban settings.

Top achievement to date: Competing in the 2005/06 Round the World Clipper race.