I spent the last three months building something I wish had existed when I started advising firms on their tech decisions: an independent, structured audit of an adviser technology platform – written for advisers, not for the vendor’s marketing team.

The first platform to go through the process was Obsidian OS.

Why Obsidian? Because they’re attempting something no other UK adviser technology provider is currently doing, and the claims they’re making deserve proper scrutiny. Not a LinkedIn hot-take. Not a vendor demo recap. A proper look under the bonnet.

This post summarises what I found. If you want the full 18-page report – including Obsidian’s unedited responses to my audit questions, my section-by-section analysis and my recommendations on who should consider the platform today versus who should wait – you can download it at the bottom of this page.

What Is an AdviserTech Transparency Report?

Most adviser technology purchasing decisions happen based on a demo, a sales pitch and maybe a conversation with another firm that uses the product. That’s not good enough for decisions that will shape your workflows, your compliance posture and your client experience for years.

The AdviserTech Transparency Report is a structured audit framework I’ve built to stress-test the things that actually matter: data privacy architecture, integration strategy, commercial sustainability, regulatory governance and AI capability.

Every platform assessed receives the same framework. Every assessment is produced independently. No vendor pays for inclusion or has editorial control over the findings.

Obsidian OS is Issue #001.

What Obsidian Is Actually Doing

For those unfamiliar: Obsidian OS is giving away its practice management and AI meeting-capture layer for free. No per-user fee. No tiered pricing. Free.

The commercial model sits elsewhere. They’re building an FCA-authorised custodial platform, and the free practice management layer is the distribution channel. Get advisers embedded in the workflow tools, then offer seamless custody and execution when the regulated platform launches.

If that model works, it represents a fundamental repricing of the adviser tech stack. If it doesn’t, firms that built their workflows around a free tool face migration risk.

That tension between genuine ambition and genuine risk is what makes Obsidian worth auditing properly rather than just writing up a demo.

What I Found: The Headlines

I assessed Obsidian across five areas. Here’s a brief summary of each. (The full report goes into significantly more detail, including Obsidian’s own unedited responses).

Data Privacy & Local Processing

Obsidian’s local-first recording model is materially different from competitors that require a bot to join your Teams or Zoom call. Audio lives on your machine first, under your OS-level encryption, before it goes anywhere. Data processing stays within the UK region. That’s currently best-in-class for UK data residency.

The one trade-off worth understanding: they don’t apply a pre-LLM pseudonymisation layer to meeting transcripts. Your client’s name, circumstances and conversation content go to the AI model as-is. They’re relying on contractual and architectural protections from AWS, which is industry-standard. But it’s worth knowing, particularly if your client base includes high-net-worth or high-profile individuals.

Integrations & Data Sovereignty

The Intelliflo integration is one-way (pull only), which sounds like a limitation but is actually the responsible approach given the state of Intelliflo’s API infrastructure. What I’d like to see is more technical substance behind Obsidian’s “zero lock-in” promise – specifically, a published data export schema that firms can inspect before they onboard, not just a verbal commitment.

Commercial Sustainability

This is where it gets genuinely interesting. The entire commercial thesis depends on FCA custodial authorisation landing successfully and firms choosing to custody assets through a technology startup. Those are two non-trivial assumptions.

The cost-management architecture – including an AI model fallback system – shows they’ve thought about sustainability seriously. But advisers should understand the commercial logic: you are not the customer of the free product. You are the distribution channel for the custody product.

Regulatory Governance

Building with regulatory intent from day one is materially different from being a tech company that decides to get regulated later. The senior team’s experience in FCA-regulated environments is reassuring. What warrants monitoring is the technical isolation between the regulated and non-regulated sides of the business as they scale.

AI Capability & Competitive Positioning

Obsidian’s argument that meeting transcription is rapidly commoditising is correct – and honest in a way that most vendors wouldn’t be. Their thesis that combining practice management with custody creates something more defensible than workflow tools alone is strategically coherent.

However, the differentiation fully materialises when the custodial platform ships. Until then, you’re evaluating a strong documentation tool against a promise of something larger.

Who Should Consider Obsidian Today – And Who Should Wait

The full report includes a detailed recommendation framework, but in short:

Consider it now if you’re a firm planning to review custody arrangements in the next 12–18 months, a smaller firm priced out of AI meeting tools, or a firm frustrated with “bot joins the call” solutions.

Wait and watch if you need a battle-tested data export process, require AI-driven compliance checking today, or are uncomfortable with a startup’s model depending on future regulatory approval.

Why This Matters Beyond Obsidian

I didn’t build this framework for a single report. The adviser tech market is going through a fundamental transition, and most of the information available to firms making technology decisions comes from the vendors themselves or from surface-level product reviews.

That’s not good enough. You deserve to know what’s actually happening under the bonnet before you commit your firm’s workflows, client data and operational future to a platform.

More reports are coming. Every platform will face the same structured audit. And none of them will have editorial control over the findings.

Download the Full Report

The full 18-page AdviserTech Transparency Report on Obsidian OS includes:

  • Obsidian’s unedited responses to every audit question
  • My section-by-section analysis of what’s strong and what gives me pause
  • Detailed verdicts for each area assessed
  • Specific recommendations for different types of advisory firm
  • Five open questions I’ll be following up on later this year

Enter your email to receive the full report. You’ll also get notified when future Transparency Reports are published.

If you’re currently evaluating your technology stack and want independent guidance on what to look for — not just with Obsidian, but across the market — check out my Tech Stack & Tool Evaluation service.