Twelve months ago, Mariner had never heard the term "digital workforce." Last month, they named their first VP of Digital Workforce Strategy.

This isn't a rebrand of an AI role. It's a different orientation entirely, and it signals where Mariner is in their transformation journey.

A VP of AI asks: How do we adopt and govern this technology?

A VP of Digital Workforce Strategy asks: Where should we deploy capacity to move the business forward?

These roles aren't substitutes for each other. A firm might have both—or neither. The point isn't which title you use. It's recognizing that managing technology and deploying capacity are different disciplines.

A VP of AI typically manages AI as a technology—the tools, the implementation, the governance. How do we build internal capability? How do we roll it out across the organization?

A VP of Digital Workforce Strategy manages AI as a capability—where to deploy capacity to drive business outcomes. Where is the organization going, what's the strategy to get there, and now that capacity is flexible and scalable, how do we apply it to accelerate that direction?

This isn't "use case first" thinking—finding processes to automate or hours to save. It's understanding the business's strategic direction and deploying capacity to accelerate it.

Eric Rinehart, Mariner's first VP of Digital Workforce Strategy, describes his role as "the liaison between the business and this new capability." His focus: "understanding what the business is trying to accomplish—their goals, their outcomes, their missions—and then making sure we're deploying the right solution with the digital workforce."

A lot of AI approaches start with the same question: where can we save time? Speed up a process? Make something less painful for a human?

Mariner started somewhere different. They found a leverage point: their risk tolerance questionnaire process. Not painful for associates, but somewhere capacity could transform the client experience.

The result wasn't just hours saved. It was unlocking a same-day client experience that wasn't possible before—and a team that trusted the process enough to change how they worked.

That's the difference between a tools-first and capacity-first orientation. One asks "what can we automate with this tool?" The other asks "where does capacity change how we operate?"

When asked what metric matters most, Eric talked about "compounding one percent of capacity returned, on a daily basis." Small daily gains compound. But the insight isn't about efficiency—it's about what capacity unlocks.

"The demand for our hours is going to exponentially grow as Mariner grows," Eric explained. "This is the thing that lets us stay up to speed."

For a CEO, that's the real question: Can you grow without proportionally scaling headcount? Can you serve more clients without burning out your team? Can you compete with larger firms while staying lean?

Capacity is the answer. But only if you know where to deploy it.

Mariner didn't build this alone. Eric credits the partnership model with enabling the firm to move fast—deploying real capacity while other firms are still running pilots.

What's changed isn't just the technology. It's that the operating model now exists. Firms don't have to figure out how to build a digital workforce from scratch. They can partner with proven capability.

That changes the calculus. The question shifts from "can we build this?" to "where are we applying it?"

And there's a cost to waiting. Eric is direct: "The world is evolving faster than what we think technology is capable of doing. If you wait for perfect, somebody's going to pass you by."

Creating a VP of Digital Workforce Strategy isn't where firms start. It's where they arrive.

Mariner didn't begin by hiring for this role. They began by building operational foundations—understanding their processes, identifying where capacity could change outcomes, partnering to deploy capability. The role came after they had something to lead.

As CEO Marty Bicknell put it at their recent National Advisor Meeting: "We don't wait for perfect to start." But starting doesn't mean creating a title. It means getting in motion.

Eric's description of the flywheel: "People get started, they learn, they iterate, they get better. The wins build trust and confidence. And the more we do that, the more people say: I want to invest my time, my energy, my learning into this."

The VP of Digital Workforce Strategy is an accelerant—the right lever at the right time, once the foundations are in place.

The role you create reveals how you think about AI.

But the role isn't the first step. The first step is deciding that capacity—and where to apply it—is a strategic question worth answering.

Ready to explore the digital workforce?

Let's talk about what capacity could unlock for your firm.

This article is for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an endorsement of Mariner.