2026 AI in Professional Services Report
The recent report by Thomson Reuters into how AI is being used in Professional Services is unsurprising. GenAI is normalising across legal, tax, risk, and government, with 2026 being the point where it becomes mainstream.
Many are using it daily, or at least weekly, and they expect this to become the norm over the next year or so.
You have to dig a bit deeper to find the nuggets.
Although AI is widely used, few measure its impact. 82% of respondents (1514) said their organisation did not collect measures, or if they did, they didn't know what they were.
Although clients expect the firms they use to use GenAI, they are treading softly and its use isn't mandated. This may reflect the high level of assurance that comes from their depth of relationships.
There is still a cynicism about hallucinations, leaving gaps between the trust levels and understanding of how to use GenAI. This may leave some firms behind.
More than half of the legal and tax respondents feel GenAI is a threat to their job, or their work, yet they are hopeful about what it can achieve. It is a recognition of the power, or inevitability of the threat.
Whilst the individual use of AI is booming, there is little organised corporate structure or governance behind it, allowing freedom and potential shadow workflows.
The biggest challenges
1. Firms don't know how to price their work. Time served is no longer relevant
2. Corporates are insourcing their work using AI, replacing firms
3. People are moving and using GenAI faster than their firms can 'govern'
SOURCE
Report: https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/reports/2026-ai-in-professional-services-report
BESCI AI OPINION
If you are working to increase or improve AI Adoption in the field of professional services, then you probably want to take these results into account.
Ask yourself:
→ Is your use of AI localised (to an individual), or scalable (to the enterprise)?
→ Is the enthusiasm you are seeing hiding fear of the impact?
→ If your clients are not demanding GenAI use, is that because they are insourcing?
→ How will you know if GenAI is delivering a benefit?
→ What would it take for a disruptor AI native rival to be a threat?
The adoption of any new ways of working is often driven by a WILLINGNESS to change, not the ABILITY. Motivation matters more than skill.
