The impact of AI on professional services [Q&A]

Traditional business models are changing as the adoption of artificial intelligence increases. In the professional services sector there's still heavy reliance on spreadsheets, but a recent survey reveals optimism about AI's impact.

We spoke to Andy Campbell, director of solutions marketing at Certinia, to learn about the impact AI is having on professional services and his outlook for the market.

BN: What gains can professional services businesses expect to gain from AI?

AC: The impact of AI on the professional services industry will be profound and will usher in a new era of efficiency, accuracy, and confidence to services leaders -- empowering them to make better, more informed decisions and take action with certainty. By leveraging AI, organizations will unlock hidden insights, predict trends, and drive process improvements that enable growth and streamline operations. AI takes three different guises and they all offer different benefits.

First there is Predictive AI that analyzes data and makes predictions about future outcomes based on historical data. Two examples might be to determine the expected project margin based on previous experience and outcomes, or the likelihood of winning a new piece of work (and what to do to improve your win rates!).

The second is GenAI, automating the creation of content and hyper personalization to deliver a more engaging customer and user experience. This might be the automated production of a project summary report, or a conversational request to create and submit time cards.

Lastly there is Agentic AI, the automation of complex tasks transforming how businesses operate and how users interact everyday with our solutions. For example, a customer success agent might manage many routine customer engagements, and prepare suggested interventions should a customer health score drop to a certain level.

BN: Can you describe how a specific services organization is benefiting from AI?

AC: Digital marketing agency Jellyfish has seen firsthand how AI can make a real-world business impact for services businesses. Previously Jellyfish managers had to manually comb through spreadsheets and rely on gut instincts when assigning staff to projects. Now, by leveraging AI they've been able to improve service quality and ensure that employees are neither over-extended (causing burnout) or underused (hurting profit margins).

They now have resource insights into areas such as:

• The ideal skills for a given project
• The best availability for a project
• The necessary certification and credentials for a project

More broadly, Jellyfish has been able to automate all of its business processes, from lead generation to billing. With one click, an employee can turn a Salesforce notification into a new project. There's also better visibility: Jellyfish to give their clients a clear line of sight into project deliverables, milestones, and budget to assure them that everything is on track.

By automating its essential processes and workflows, Jellyfish has been able to reduce and even eliminate costly human errors. This has not only enabled cost savings, but it has also given the company the support it needs for continued global growth.

BN: Where should organizations start when looking to integrate AI?

AC: Rather than focusing on the flashiest AI use cases, organizations should take a more pragmatic approach to begin with. That means starting with simple use cases that are manageable, solve an immediate, tangible business problem, and provide clear opportunities for value improvement. Lots of AI initiatives stall when enterprises try to take on the biggest, juiciest projects at first. Test the waters! Once you've successfully deployed AI for these pragmatic use cases, then you can look to leverage the tech in more complex and innovative ways.

BN: Are there regulatory and compliance concerns surrounding the use of AI in professional services?

AC: Sure, there are absolutely concerns that need to be addressed, but these are largely for professional services teams that are working for clients in highly regulated sectors like healthcare, government, and banking.

For the most part, it comes down to the way AI is using data. AI depends on data to learn, make recommendations, and take actions -- from business data to employee data to client data. Let's not forget the old adage, garbage in, garbage out, and in a world of AI this has never been more true. Bad data results in bad decisions and model 'hallucinations', so governance and data quality are critical.

Also services businesses need to make sure they’re adhering to all data privacy laws, compliance regulations, and general data security best practices, which requires a whole checklist of things. To start, organizations should ensure their AI vendors have earned all the important security certifications, have met sufficient standards, and have built a strong track record in general on security and compliance.

BN: How can businesses ensure they're using AI effectively?

AC: To echo what I said earlier, services organizations should ensure they're leveraging AI for use cases that provide obvious business value and that solve real headaches. If you do that, and actively demonstrate the impact that AI can make on your business, this will build a momentum for change. After all, nothing succeeds like success!

More specifically, services teams should set clear KPIs and metrics to measure the impact of AI on their operations and business. For instance, if you're using AI to improve your management of customer payments, you would focus on reducing the 'days to pay' and measure the impact that has on improving cashflow.

BN: How do you expect AI use to develop in this sector over the next few years?

AC: We have been through the inevitable technology hype cycle, and overcome the initial skepticism, now it is likely to take off like a rocket. As our 2024 Global Service Dynamics Report reveals, 61 percent of services businesses plan to leverage AI over the next 12 months to mitigate external challenges they anticipate.

Effective AI adoption will become a key business differentiator for services organizations. Whatever the flavor of AI, be it Predictive, Generative or Agentic, at its core, it is about uncovering critical insights that help drive significantly better efficiency and provide new opportunities for business growth. Services organizations that fail to take advantage of the tech -- and the innovation that it offers -- will very soon fall behind versus competitors.

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