Transcript:
Legal, accounting, consulting, and capital markets firms have fared really well during the past two decades and weathered most storms remarkably well, I would say. But we see some tectonic shifts taking place, and they’re coming from three angles.
On the one hand, it’s client experiences. It’s also very much about how services are being delivered, and how the value actually reaches the clients. So the client experience actually takes center stage.
We have the equivalent on the employee side as well. Employees are questioning how the work needs to be done these days. What are the modern ways of working? What does a modern firm culture look like? What’s learning and development in this world? How do you actually identify with a firm in a more virtual, hybrid world? And last but not least, how do you make it tangible in the workplace? All of these questions are really triggering intense dialogues in the firms who we work with.
External pressures are rising as well, so AML, KYC regulation is rising across industries. Accounting firms are under much more pressure from the regulators globally these days. The same actually goes for consulting firms, even though that’s regulated. They are still under much more scrutiny in terms of ethical walls, independence, and conflict issues.
Digital transformation and the use of technology is clearly recognized as part of the answer to these challenges. But it’s not about improving workflows or driving a bit of automation. It’s really about fundamentally transforming the operating models to become ready for the future.
To learn how you can future-proof your firm, read Next-gen professional services and capital markets firms: A roadmap for industry-specific transformation.