Key insights
- Artificial intelligence (AI) can support and augment human capabilities to help with challenges like ongoing talent shortages.
- By integrating AI, firms can better manage existing talent and free up time from mundane tasks to focus on strategic opportunities.
- Successfully integrating AI involves identifying areas where AI can add value, keeping things simple, and educating your staff.
Boost your organization’s resilience by adapting to AI’s potential.
Will artificial intelligence (AI) make professional services firms unnecessary?
In recent decades, technological advancements and other societal developments have sparked discussions about various disruptors with potential to displace professionals from their industries.
Consider these examples:
- Personal computing
- Computer-aided design (CAD)
- The internet
- Globalization
- Do-it-yourself (DIY) software
- Outsourcing
- Recessions
- Data security and cyber attacks
- Talent shortages
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
If your professional services firm has been active in the last few years, then you’ve heard the endless stream of calls to action and dire predictions about talent shortages and AI. These remain relevant for particularly good reasons, not the least of which is AI’s ability to help with the talent shortage in many industries.
Firms of all sizes are heeding the call to adopt modern technologies or risk becoming obsolete. While not a complete playing field leveler, AI allows smaller firms to compete for talent, opportunities, knowledge, and options with access to the same information as bigger firms.
The question is: How do you start?
If your organization is using burdensome manual processes, or your digital processes are more than 8 – 10 years old, it’s time to regroup.
Identify areas where AI might add value
Keep things simple and celebrate easy wins. If your team is writing more concise and understandable emails after integrating an AI editor with your email software, that’s a win. Professional services firms can use AI to reduce time spent on everyday tasks like:
- Automating and analyzing time-tracking
- Summarizing consultations or interviews
- Writing reports or proposals with given variables
- Standardizing consulting documents
- Drafting client letters based on published regulations or data
- Comparing a set of data points against industry standards
- Creating client presentations
- And much more depending on specific needs
Get your staff involved and educated
Make sure your staff understands AI basics and its potential. Allowing people on the front lines to experiment is a boon to innovation. You may find your least experienced staff producing an idea that saves everyone time and money.
Professional services firms that adapt to social and technological changes can thrive by interpreting industry shifts and enabling their employees to reach a broader audience.
Explore the better ideas through pilot projects
Starting with small manageable projects to evaluate AI applications can help your team better understand the technology and how it can help your business. Professional services firms sell knowledge and experience, and it can be intimidating to consider how much of this hard-earned knowledge might be replaced by AI.
However, by embracing AI as a tool to augment, rather than replace, human capabilities — firms can continue to deliver on their value propositions.
How CLA can help with integrating AI
Successful AI integration and automation can leverage your team’s focus away from mundane tasks and allow them to carry a bigger client base.
A digital readiness assessment from CLA’s digital team can help your organization understand its current digital capabilities and identify areas to help modernize infrastructure and increase operational efficiency.
Contact us
Increase your organization’s resilience by adapting and changing with the potential of artificial intelligence. Complete the form below to connect with CLA.If you are unable to see the form below, please complete your submission here.