A former financial advisor and ex-Goldman Sachs banker is building Bonsai Smart Wealth, an AI-powered digital financial planning platform designed to make personalised financial advice more accessible, intuitive and affordable.
Daniel Afan-Jones grew up in an environment where conversations about money were often limited, and formal financial education was almost non-existent. As a teenager, he worked as a telephone debt negotiator, helping families navigate repayment plans and seeing how overwhelming financial decisions can be without support.
“Most people aren’t given the tools or confidence to manage their finances,” Daniel told Founder Insights.
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“Later, even when I worked in finance, I realised this wasn’t just a challenge for everyday households but far more universal than people assume.”
Daniel went on to hold roles across risk, collateral management and private banking at Goldman Sachs before becoming a financial advisor himself. Running his own practice showed him just how slow and fragmented the traditional advice model remains.
“The process is still heavily manual and expensive to deliver,” he said. “That’s a big part of what widens the advice gap. Technology can help fix that, but only if it’s built thoughtfully and with proper oversight.”
These insights led him to start building Bonsai Smart Wealth, an AI-native advice platform designed to guide people through major financial decisions and give them clearer visibility and confidence.
The platform combines automation with adviser-grade logic, a hybrid approach that aims to scale high-quality guidance without losing the human principles at the heart of financial planning.
“We want people to feel supported and in control,” Daniel said. “Life changes all the time – your financial plan should be able to change with it.”
The team has already reached two key milestones: completing Bonsai’s MVP and securing its first round of funding.
“Both took a huge amount of work,” Daniel said. “We’re now focused on refining the product, strengthening our technology and expanding the team.”
Starting young in financial advice brought its own challenges. Daniel often worked with clients much older than him and experienced moments of imposter syndrome.
“The hardest part was the personal sacrifice, long hours and giving most of my twenties to building and learning,” he said.
Daniel says those experiences helped shape his leadership style.
“Being a founder forces you to learn quickly and adapt constantly,” he said. “It’s uncomfortable at times, but that’s usually where progress comes from.”
He credits his wife as his biggest supporter and remains committed to making high-quality, tech-enabled financial planning accessible to people from all backgrounds.
“I hire brilliant people and give them the space to excel,” he said. “Great companies are built by teams, not individuals.”
Bonsai is still early in its journey, but Daniel’s ambition is clear. His long-term goal is to put a digital financial adviser in the pockets of 10 million people by 2030, offering personalised insights, scenario modelling and AI-supported guidance.
“My expectations for Bonsai are incredibly high,” he said. “We’re building something designed to last and we won’t stop until we get there.”
Bonsai Smart Wealth aims to become a trusted tool for people seeking clearer, more accessible and more supportive financial guidance powered by technology.
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