Changing client expectations, advances in technology and new sources of capital are reshaping how professional services firms operate and grow.
Professional services firms deliver expertise built on human knowledge and experience. Advances in AI, changing client expectations and access to private capital are reshaping how you put that expertise to work.
AI can take on routine tasks, freeing you to focus on analysis, advice and client relationships. Clients increasingly expect deeper insights to help them make business decisions, while private capital can fund investments in technology, talent and expansion. Together, these changes are prompting firms — from accounting and consulting to legal, architecture, engineering and marketing — to reconsider how they operate and where they create value.
These changes offer your firm a chance to rethink how you’re structured and where you provide the most value for clients. The following five trends show where to focus your attention, with practical steps you can take in response.
Clients expect firms to understand their business, anticipate challenges and help them make better decisions.
AI is raising the bar by helping firms prepare tax returns, legal briefs and marketing pitches faster than ever, so deliverables alone aren’t necessarily what set a firm apart. The ones pulling ahead are building strong client relationships, going beyond expectations and bringing insight clients can't get elsewhere. Their reputations drive referrals and new opportunities.
Deltek’s 2026 Professional Services Maturity Benchmarks report shows why this matters. Firms won more new business in 2025, with bid win rates rising from 47.3% to 48.1%. At the same time, the share of clients willing to serve as references dipped to 68.2% from 70.1%. Firms that invest in relationships after the work begins can turn satisfied clients into advocates and stand out in the process.
For law firms, trust is the differentiator. Reports of attorneys citing AI-generated cases that do not actually exist have put quality control in the spotlight. Clients need to know that attorneys have reviewed every filing and stand behind it. By pairing AI efficiency with human review, you can strengthen that trust.
For creative agencies, AI can take on administrative work. PR firms, for example, are using AI to compile press clippings for clients, work that once required hours of searching and screenshots. That frees teams to focus on what sets their agency apart: understanding a client’s audience, developing strategy and bringing original ideas to the work.
Take action: Map where your teams spend time on routine tasks and identify where AI could help streamline. Choose a specific use for the time saved, such as more frequent client check-ins or deeper analysis to support client decisions.
AI adoption in professional services is accelerating. According to Thomson Reuters' 2026 AI in Professional Services Report, 40% of professional services organizations use generative AI (GenAI), up from 22% the year before. Only 18% measure ROI from those investments. Tracking results — and using them to refine your spending and approach — can give your firm an edge by helping you direct resources toward what works.
Consider choosing an enterprise-level license, which allows you to manage access to AI tools centrally instead of having employees buy their own AI subscriptions. It can offer lower per-user pricing, stronger data security and visibility into who's using the tools. Tracking that usage shows where to expand, offer more training and allocate spending.
But the more useful measure is how AI changes business results, whether in hours saved, the amount of work your team can handle, profitability, client response time or revenue. That requires a baseline. Before automating a process, document how long it takes, how many people touch it, where delays and rework occur and what it costs.
In our experience with clients, the timeline depends on the use case. Individual productivity gains can show up within weeks. Broader AI implementations, which involve redesigning workflows and changing how work gets delivered, typically produce operational gains within three to six months and meaningful financial impact within six to 18 months. You should track progress against your targets and revisit how AI is being applied if results fall short.
The biggest wins can go beyond efficiency, allowing firms to serve more clients and increase revenue. Consider a creative agency working on fixed fees. If AI automates half of a team's workload, that team can serve new clients with the same headcount, turning time savings into new revenue.
For law firms and others billing by the hour, the shift opens a broader conversation about how to price work and demonstrate value. For some firms, the greatest return will come from using AI to make different pricing and delivery models more profitable. For example, a law firm might package routine contract review as a fixed-fee subscription. An agency might shift from project-based work to an ongoing retainer for content and performance reporting.
Take action: Set baselines and ROI targets for your AI investments. As results emerge, assess how time savings could help your firm serve more clients or change how you price and deliver work.
How well your firm's systems work together can give you a competitive advantage, but connecting that data remains a challenge for professional services finance leaders.
Deltek’s benchmark survey of more than 500 professional services firms found that project margins rose to 37.7% in 2025, up from 35.9% the year before, and nearly 89% of firms hit their annual margin targets. Firmwide earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin, however, held at 9.9%, below the five-year average of 13.8%. The opportunity lies in turning project performance into stronger firmwide results, and connected data can help bridge that gap. Firms using a project-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that connects project data with core financials reported an EBITDA margin of 10.2%, compared with 8.6% for those without one.
When your systems share data, you can see what people are spending time on, how quickly clients pay and how profitable each client, matter or project is, without waiting for someone to assemble the reports. That visibility helps firms shift from reviewing last quarter's results to planning for the next one.
At creative agencies, connecting project and staffing data with financial results can help leaders assess profitability and make hiring and investment decisions. Reviewing that information weekly or biweekly allows them to adjust before a quarter closes.
For law firms, connected financial data also supports compliance. Under California's Client Trust Account Protection Program (CTAPP), firms must maintain detailed trust account records and demonstrate compliance when reviewed. When trust account, billing and case data share one system, you can reconcile trust balances, track funds by case and produce accurate records whenever they're needed.
Take action: Identify the systems that hold your financial, operational and client data. Prioritize connections that help you answer key business questions, such as which projects are most profitable, then review that information regularly to guide decisions.
Deltek reports that billable utilization reached a record low of 66.4% in 2025, while attrition held at 11.3%. At the same time, Thomson Reuters found that 87% of professionals expect GenAI to become central to their workflow within five years. Together, these numbers point firms toward building teams with the right mix of expertise, technology fluency and judgment.
A clear AI strategy helps with recruitment. Candidates increasingly ask how a firm uses AI and whether it has a policy in place. Firms that are open about their AI strategy and provide training to help new employees use it effectively stand out.
Human skills, such as judgment, critical thinking, empathy and knowing the right questions to ask, are needed more than ever. In creative fields, taste and discernment are equally important. AI can generate a campaign concept, but understanding how it should sound, feel and resonate takes a human perspective.
For a midsize firm, talent strategy starts with deciding what will make it an attractive place to work, whether that’s culture, flexibility, competitive pay or a combination. Consider where you want the firm to be in five, 10 or 15 years, then invest in developing the people and skills needed to get there, including those who will eventually lead it.
Take action: Shape your hiring, training and succession plans around your firm’s longer-term goals. Define your AI policy and train people to use the tools and apply their professional knowledge to check AI’s work.
Consolidation is also reshaping professional services as firms look for the capital, technology and talent to compete at greater scale. Private equity firms continue to show strong interest in the sector, providing firms with additional options for funding growth, technology investments and succession planning.
Accounting firms and marketing agencies have already attracted substantial investment. Outside capital can fund technology and AI investments that are difficult to finance from operating income alone. It can also give owners a clear path forward as they plan for retirement and succession.
Law firms have traditionally been owned only by attorneys. That's starting to change. A handful of jurisdictions, including Arizona, now permit non-attorney ownership, and management services organizations (MSOs) are creating a path in other states. In an MSO structure, the investor owns and operates the business side of the firm, such as marketing, technology and administration, while licensed attorneys retain ownership and control of the legal practice.
The appeal comes down to capital and focus. Keeping pace with AI, cybersecurity and other technology requires significant investment that many small and midsize firms find difficult to fund on their own. An MSO can provide that capital along with experienced business management, freeing attorneys to concentrate on practicing law. For owners, it can also create a path to liquidity and succession, while retained equity lets them share in the firm's future growth.
The best fit so far is consumer-focused firms with recognizable brands and large marketing budgets, including personal injury, immigration and family law practices. Results from Armanino’s law firm compensation and benefits survey show that views on private equity ownership differed sharply from region to region. Legislation addressing these structures has been enacted or proposed in California, Colorado and Illinois.
Take action: Decide what your firm's future looks like, whether that means organic growth, succession or outside investment. If you’re considering outside investment, assess the tax implications for owners and consider a quality of earnings analysis to help you understand your financial performance before buyers examine it.
The firms that thrive in the years ahead will be the ones that rethink how work gets done, where their people spend time and where their expertise creates the most value.
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