Workday Video: How AI Will Redefine the Future of Professional and Business Services

Professional services firms have long grappled with issues including talent allocation and resource management, unlocking data to gather needle-moving insights for clients, and accurately forecasting future revenue. 

And while many firms still use 20-year-old systems, they’re increasingly recognising that doing so puts them on the back foot when it comes to emerging technologies such as AI.

In this video, filmed at Workday Rising EMEA in Barcelona, experts discuss the key challenges, opportunities, and trends that will drive innovation in professional services.

Key insights:

• AI’s explosive growth requires a thoughtful response. “What excites me is embracing that change, but doing it in a consistent way so it’s controlled and we make best use of the technology available,” says Iain Heap, CIO of Kainos, a digital solutions provider.

• AI is the productivity accelerator that professional services need. “With AI, firms in the professional services space see an opportunity to do more with less,” notes Kyle Wilkinson, a strategic industry advisor at Workday. “AI is going to give them the opportunity to give time back to their workers to make sure they can focus on more valuable and more revenue-generating work.”

• A unified technology platform is key to meet future challenges. “The single biggest benefit of having HR and finance within a single platform is that no one’s arguing about the data,” says Rob Bloor, group financial controller at Equiniti, a financial and administrative services company. That means “you’re in a much better position to consume information and to drive business change.” 

• As the pace of business increases, professional services firms will narrow their focus. “There will be an acceleration in the pace at which things happen,” says Tom Seal, senior research director at IDC. To keep up, “organisations will refocus their internal capabilities around what’s really core to the business.”