The Future of the Firm

David Blowers, Co-President of the Financial Advisory Practice at Kroll, and Fiona Czerniawska, CEO of Source, caught up with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source, on the latest episode of our The Future of the Firm podcast.  

David and Fiona shared their insights on the following matters and more:   

• While deals tend to drop off during more turbulent times, it all comes down the quality of the asset. If corporates are laser focused on a really good asset, it will get done despite market conditions—and this is something that will persist.  

• David and Fiona share their views on the performance of the deals market in the last 18 months, including drivers and predictions.  

• While AI is the technology everyone is talking about, it is a proxy for overall efficiency gains. Looking beyond just AI to focus on the technology that is the right fit for the client will yield the best results in the long term. 

• The professional services market is bifurcating into two streams, with commoditised work in one direction and innovation in another. Likewise, half of the market is striving to be more technology-led, while the other half is focusing more on people. 

• The importance of using a period of crisis to your advantage, for instance taking the opportunity to pull back on hiring, invest, and evolve to be ready for future opportunities. 

• The big mistakes that firms could make, including trying to approach clients with a one-size-fits-all solution rather than listening to their needs and talking about the issues that resonate.  

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Benjamin Samuels, Former Chief Revenue Officer at WeWork, about navigating growth and change.  

Alison Grigg and Kerry Grigg, Managing Partners at Multiple Group, and Fiona Czerniawska, CEO of Source, caught up with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source, on the latest episode of our The Future of the Firm podcast.  

Alison, Kerry, and Fiona shared their insights on the following matters and more:   

• The dangers of social washing and how demographic change is driving increased accountability, as the younger generations expect businesses to deliver on the ESG promises they’re making. 

• The mistakes firms could be making, such as assuming that good leadership happens overnight and not doing enough work to embed social value throughout all areas of the business. 

• The importance of assessing learning agility during recruitment and in performance reviews, to both foster an adaptable workplace and to give your employees the tools to carry them through life. 

• The four generational “tribes” and how they approach the workplace, and every facet of their lives, differently. 

• Practical takeaways for firms to implement, such as focusing on communication and getting to know your team. 

• The extent to which consulting firms should consider and be held accountable for the intended and unintended human consequences of the changes they implement in a business.  

• The importance of bringing not just a financial and business impact lens to big decisions, for instance headcount reductions, but also considering the intended and unintended social impact risks that might occur as a consequence. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Sam Samaratunga, Global Head of Risk Services at PwC, about the future of the risk services market.  

Sam Samaratunga, Global Head of Risk Services at PwC, and Fiona Czerniawska, CEO of Source, caught up with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source, on the latest episode of our The Future of the Firm podcast. 

Sam and Fiona shared their insights on the following matters and more:  

• Many clients think their leaders aren’t quick enough to respond, but Sam stresses the importance of taking risks intelligently and making decisions with confidence.  

• PwC’s annual risk survey found that 44% of CEOs believe their organisation won’t be economically viable if they carry on along their current economic path. We discuss the need to change, adapt, and reinvent. 

• Sam takes us through the four layers of risk services—from macroeconomic risks through to crisis management. 

• GenAI is improving productivity, decision making, and client and employee engagement—but it brings with it threats as well as opportunities. We discuss what these might look like in the risk space. 

• Data analysis is important, but it is only as good as the quality of data available. We consider the importance of combining proprietary and external data to support decision making.  

• Making use of ecosystems and working in a joined-up way is not just beneficial for firms, but for clients too.  

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Benjamin Samuels, Former Chief Revenue Officer at WeWork, about navigating growth and change.  

Fiona Czerniawska, Source’s CEO and Emma Carroll, Source’s Head of Content, discuss innovation in professional services firms, on the latest episode of our The Future of the Firm podcast. 

They discussed the following and more:  

• When clients think about the types of innovation they see from firms they talk about blue-sky thinking, best practices that they can apply in their organisation, and flexible ways of working.  

• If firms want to convince clients that they are innovative then they need to prove it rather than talk about it. A concrete example might include a small technology tool they’ve created or a solution to one, small pain point.  

• Innovation has fallen from the top of clients’ wish lists of the attributes they want to see in firms. They still think it is important, but have prioritised things like expertise and the ability to implement in 2024. We wouldn’t be surprised to see this rebound when growth hits the business agenda again.  

• “Tried and tested innovation” may not be innovation at all. And the value of innovation to a client can be eroded if firms roll the idea out more widely.  

• Managed services offerings have a tricky tightrope to walk between being innovative and tailored to each client versus being commercially viable for firms.  

• When clients talk about innovation, they often mean technology. Firms can help clients innovate fast with small-scale, quick tech wins, rather than large-scale, extended projects.  

This podcast can be listened to in conjunction with Source’s new publication, The Innovation Challenge, which takes a deeper dive into the subject and is available to subscribers of Source’s White Space programme. If you’d like to learn more, please get in touch. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Andy Haywood, former Chief Modernisation Officer of Yorkshire Water, about the recurring challenges in businesses that he’s experienced during his career.  

Fiona Czerniawska, Source’s CEO, and Margaret Cameron-Waller, Associate at Source, caught up with Emma Carroll, Source’s Head of Content, on the latest episode of our The Future of the Firm podcast to discuss the thorny issue of whether consulting should be regulated. 

Fiona and Margaret shared their insight on the following matters and more:  

• If regulation is needed, then there is a decision to be made about whether firms or individual consultants would be the target. We think about what these options would involve.  

• We consider what self-regulation looks like in the consulting industry today and what impact it is having. 

• The wide nature of consulting work would make it extremely difficult to regulate—we look at the other pros and cons. 

• There is an argument in favour of junior consultants going through a recognised qualification—we consider what this would entail. We also debate the need for CPD. 

• We conclude that the consulting scandals that hit the headlines are outliers rather than the tip of an iceberg or the sign of a systemic problem.  

• Firms should carry out satisfaction surveys with all clients, and this should include a question about the value created. We challenge firms to publish the results.  

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Andy Haywood, former Chief Modernisation Officer of Yorkshire Water, about the recurring challenges in businesses.  

Marna Ricker, Global Vice Chair for Tax at EY, and Fiona Czerniawska, CEO of Source, caught up with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source, on the latest episode of our The Future of the Firm podcast. 

Marna and Fiona shared their insight on the following matters and more:  

• Clients say that choosing where to start implementing AI in their tax operations is tricky. Something simple and repeatable is a good first target. We look at concrete examples across three, increasing levels of maturity. 

• Some of the big challenges that clients are facing include getting robust data in place, legality & ethics, and how to put together a business case for implementing AI. 

• Quantum computing is set to have a profound impact on tax, particularly around predictions and policy development. We consider what opportunities lie ahead. 

• We explore three areas where EY is reimaging tax services: compliance and reporting, advice, and new services. 

• Marna suggests that some tax services will never be carried out by AI, particularly ones where judgement is required. We consider what’s in and what’s out.  

• There continue to be talent and capacity challenges in tax services; we consider some solutions. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Jason Maude of Starling Bank about what a tech-first business wants from consulting firms.  

Greg Sarafin, Global Vice Chair, EY Partner Ecosystem, caught up with Fiona Czerniawska, CEO of Source, on the latest episode of our The Future of the Firm podcast. 

Greg and Fiona shared their insight on the following matters and more:  

• Clients want firms to help them drive their business outcomes, and increasingly take joint responsibility for those outcomes. That includes bringing along the collective partners that are needed. 

• Partnering is the route to an outcome-based commercial model vs. the traditional product and services-based one.  

• The role of consulting firms is shifting from being the advisor to the orchestrator. We discuss how EY is approaching this globally.  

• Stakeholder value is created when clients move to a major platform as a service (PaaS) which is then strengthened by adding an orbiting ecosystem of smaller software businesses. 

• A journey lies ahead that will take AI from being a copilot to having agency. We discuss the opportunities and timeline.  

• Clients want to pay firms based on the value their ecosystems create. We explore what this means for fee models. 

• We finish by discussing how firmss may take their partner ecosystems to the next level. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Jason Maude of Starling Bank about what a tech-first business wants from consulting firms.  

Fresh from the publication of Source’s latest Quality Ratings of Thought Leadership report, Natasha Cambell, Principal Thought Leadership Consultant; Nicola Kostrzewska, Thought Leadership Consultant; and Emma Carroll, Head of Content, get together to debate today’s big thought leadership trends.

They also discuss exactly how firms can improve the differentiation, appeal, resilience, and action-driving capability of their material. 

Natasha and Nicola discuss the following matters and more:  

• Thought leadership has long been considered essential to driving awareness of a firm’s brand. However, Source’s research shows that it is also integral to the whole lifecycle of the firm-client relationship.  

• Thought leadership has come a long way since the one-time-only launch of the doorstop report, where 80% of investment and effort was put into producing the thought leadership and only 20% on activating it. A more even split is now needed.   

• Changing customer behaviours are shaping thought leadership. More content is being consumed on the move and clients want short, sharp resources. This is changing how thought leadership is produced and governed. Collaboration across a firm is key. 

• Though leadership quality scores are at their highest ever this year. “Challenger brands” have worked harder on all dimensions of quality, and against this background, appeal and resilience have started to become non-negotiable hygiene factors.   

• Thought leadership is distinguished from its “poorer relation” content marketing by a strong dataset. We look at what else sets it apart. 

• Prompting action is, once again, where thought leadership often falls short. Firms have some good ideas in this space but fail to apply them consistently.  

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Jason Maude of Starling Bank about what a tech-first business wants from consulting firms.  

Jon Brewer, CMO of global law firm Orrick and European President of the Legal Marketing Association, caught up with Emma Carroll, Source’s Head of Content, on the latest episode of our The Future of the Firm podcast. 

Jon shared his insight on the following topics and more:  

• How the role of the CMO in legal services has evolved, including becoming an advisor to the CEO and being more campaign focused  

• The importance of building up a support network of peers 

• How CMOs can influence strategy if they don’t have a seat at the board table 

• Understanding your competition and adapting your value proposition in response 

• How to get ahead of your customers’ needs, including the demands of regulation 

• How to cut through with thought leadership in an era of digital distraction 

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In our latest episode, we talk to Simon Bumfrey of HSBC Innovation Banking about how to prioritise customer experience.  

Ismail Amla, Global Practice Leader at Kyndryl, and Fiona Czerniawska, CEO of Source, caught up with Emma Carroll, Source’s Head of Content, on the latest episode of our The Future of the Firm podcast. 

Ismail and Fiona shared their insight on the following matters and more:  

• Demand for support with AI, new regulation, innovation, and sector-specific digital transformation are all driving growth in this consulting sector.   

• Clients are imagining new, cross-sector propositions. These will need new solutions from a technology point of view.  

• Clients are becoming more realistic about making good use of AI. They aren’t becoming less interested, but they realise it isn’t as easy as they thought at first. 

• There may be some interesting uses for AI around account management, particularly for clients that are working with multiple advisors. 

• There is a trend towards technology-first when it comes to consulting projects. We discuss what this will look like and how it is set to transform the professional services sector.  

• More mergers, acquisitions, or new partnerships may be on the cards between consulting firms, data companies, and platform providers. We look at what new entrants can add to partnerships and where firms are falling short with their ecosystems. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In our latest episode, we talk to Simon Bumfrey of HSBC Innovation Banking about how to prioritise customer experience.