AI’s impact on professional services and getting employees comfortable with change

On this week’s episode, MT’s editorial team discusses the impact of AI on professional services and the role of psychological safety in business transformation.

Is AI coming for your job? If you’re a consultant that question might have been hard to shake in recent months, after a slew of headlines warned of the impact on the profession and data showed that the Big 4 scaled back their entry-level hiring programmes last year – by as much as 33% in KPMG’s case (compared with 2023). It’s clear that AI is squeezing employment in professional services firms, London Business School professor Michael Jacobides wrote in a recent piece for MT. He suggests, however, that “the death of the firm is greatly exaggerated”. We consider his argument.

Humans, famously, are uncomfortable with change - but transformation, by definition, requires us to disrupt what’s familiar. That tension is at the heart of many large-scale organisational change projects, and could be one reason why the success rate for such initiatives remains dismally low. In a recent piece for MT, Lesley Cooper outlines the role of company culture in driving innovation, engagement, and in helping employees to get comfortable with the unfamiliar. We discuss how leaders can create a psychologically safe environment.

Credits:

Presenters: Éilis Cronin and Antonia Garrett Peel

Producer: Inga Marsden

Artwork: Jenny Hardy

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