How One CEO Became AI-Driven in 90 Days and Transformed His 35-Year-Old Firm

Industry

Financial Services

Challenge

After 35 years in financial services, ASE Private Wealth® faced a challenge common across the industry: heavy operational burdens, outdated workflows, and a leadership team unsure where AI meaningfully fit. CEO Rusty Cagle had no technical background, no roadmap, and no internal expertise to lean on. Yet the stakes were high—clients were demanding more scale, more intelligence, and more leverage than the team could deliver.

Results

Within 90 days, Rusty led the firm through a system-level shift. Annual software and operational costs were reduced by $100,000, representing nearly $5M in enterprise value. A signature client workflow dropped from 7 hours to 90 minutes, unlocking new capacity across the advisory team. And by using AI as a strategic thought partner, ASE secured a $10M working capital line for a client previously rejected by 35 banks

Key Product

The AI-Driven Leadership Collective™

www.aseadvisors.com/

$5M

Enterprise value created from AI-enabled efficiencies

100%

Leadership-led AI adoption in 90 days

$10M

Client financing secured via AI-enabled restructuring

$100K

Annual cost savings identified in 30 days

“I told my team we were burning the ships. No more hedging. No more dabbling. AI wasn’t a suggestion—it was the new standard for how we operate.”

Rusty Cagle

CEO & Founder, ASE Private Wealth®

How We Help

At AI Leadership, we help companies like yours actually start and progress through their AI transformation journey. Here are three ways we can help you:

Workshops for Your Executive Team
In one session, your team sees exactly where AI creates ROI for your business — and leaves aligned, energized, and equipped to act immediately.

The AI-Driven Leadership Collective™
A private network of C-suite executives solving the same AI challenges you are — with curated tools, real-world playbooks, and access to the intelligence of AI-driven companies already pulling ahead of the competition.

Advisory
A force multiplier for your strategy. We partner directly with your executive team to sharpen your plans, uncover leverage you’re missing, and build an AI roadmap that drives measurable business results.

If you’d like to explore what this could look like for your company, book a call with one of our team members and we’ll guide you to the best next step.