Professional services firm benchmarks AI adoption among competitors
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A professional services company needed to understand the level of investment in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) among its competitors
The Challenge
A sensitive subject for financial services firms
The professional services firm wanted to understand the types of investments that its competitors — the top 25 accountancy firms in the US — were making into Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), in terms of funding, time and human resources.
The professional services firm needed go beyond desk research and publicly available information from press releases to get a true sense of how GenAI was being deployed by its competitors. However, given the secrecy surrounding GenAI investments, it needed to be broached carefully with respondents to get honest answers. The professional services firm needed a B2B market research agency experienced in professional services market research to conduct competitor benchmarking.
Our Approach
Unearthing how competitors are rolling out GenAI
Werk Insight, a B2B market research company, designed a competitor analysis that explored:
The types of training that accountancy firms are offering for existing employees
How Gen AI is shaping their current hiring practices
Any partnerships they have with tech firms in establishing their Gen AI toolkit
We conducted 15 video interviews with senior decision makers at the top 25 accountancy firms in the US who were responsible for GenAI strategy. These individuals were responsible for Gen AI strategy across four main service lines (audit, tax, advisory, consulting). This included at least 2 decision makers from each of the Big 4 firms.
Using solid interviewing techniques and our moderators’ ability to make interviewees comfortable, we teased out a lot of valuable information. We were able to understand what these firms were doing and how their employees perceived these investments and the firms’ greater strategy toward Gen AI. This resulted in deeper insights that exceeded the client’s expectations. In particular, we uncovered a specific strategy that accountancy firms are using to grow their arsenal of Gen AI tools.
The Insight
Detailed roadmap for GenAI adoption
The insights gathered solidified the professional services firm’s GenAI strategy. It was reassured that its approach was competitive with the market. The research informed additional investment and a detailed roadmap for how to make GenAI adoption successful across the firm.