While many UK firms have spent the last two years experimenting with Co-pilots and simple summaries, the conversation has shifted. As Marc McNicholl, MD for Accounting at Intapp, told me: in a highly regulated profession, you simply cannot “vibe code” your way to success.
The industry is reaching a fork in the road. On one side are the firms stuck in “pilot mode” using AI for productivity shortcuts. On the other are those moving toward “Agentic AI,” where technology moves from summarizing meetings to fundamentally altering the P&L.
Moving Beyond Productivity: Where the Value Lives
We often hear about AI saving time, but where is it creating measurable commercial impact? According to McNicholl, the real “time to value” is found in the client lifecycle:
- Accelerated Onboarding: Reducing the friction of bringing on new clients is a massive revenue driver.
- The Cross-Sell Engine: AI can scan siloed data to expose “buried” advisory opportunities like an audit client who might need R&D tax credits or ESG reporting assistance.
- Margin Protection: By analysing historical institutional knowledge, firms can identify previous bottlenecks and revenue leakage, leading to better pitches and more accurate scoping.
The “Garbage In, Garbage Out” Reality Check
The biggest hurdle for the UK market right now isn’t the AI itself; it’s Data Readiness. “For AI to be effective, you need to have one single source of the truth,” McNicholl warns.
Currently, too much vital information is disjointed: held in partner-owned silos, offline legacy systems, or on-premises technology. For AI to be a strategic asset, firms must move to a centralized, cloud-based foundation layer a key element of what Intapp calls “Firm AI”.
Interestingly, Private Equity (PE) is accelerating this shift. PE-backed firms are no longer looking at technology as a year-end expense but as a growth driver for a five-year exit strategy. For partner-led firms, the choice is now simple: invest to compete or prepare to be consolidated.
Governance: Wisdom vs. Knowledge
As AI becomes embedded in risk-sensitive workflows, governance cannot be an afterthought left for IT. It must be dictated by senior management.
A critical distinction was made during our discussion: AI has knowledge, but it lacks wisdom.
- The Human in the Loop: There must be a “human in the chain” to provide oversight.
- The Rise of the Orchestrator: We will likely see new roles, like “AI Orchestrators” junior staff managing multiple AI agents while senior partners provide the essential wisdom and review.
The Structural Divide
A gap is opening in the profession. Clients now expect to work with technology-advanced firms that deliver high-quality work faster. Perhaps more importantly, the battle for talent specifically Gen Z will be won by firms that are “technology first”. The launch of platforms like Intapp Celeste suggests the market is moving toward out-of-the-box, governed AI that respects the security needs of professional services. If your data is siloed and your governance is “vibe-based,” the competitive gap is going to widen rapidly. It’s time to move your information out of the partner’s head and into the foundation layer.