The Future of Professional Services

The Future of Professional Services, keynote by Ross Dawson
Professional services firms face accelerating technology, shifting client expectations, and networked competition, and the firms that pair AI capability with deep human expertise will create the most value for clients. This keynote shows partners and leaders what is changing in their profession and how to lead through it.

Ross Dawson’s first book, Developing Knowledge-Based Client Relationships: The Future of Professional Services, led to two decades of work with many of the world’s largest professional services firms, including audit, accounting, legal, strategy consulting, advertising, IT services, engineering and infrastructure services, and executive search, as keynote speaker, strategy facilitator, and leadership program faculty.

Keynote overview

Acceleration. Technological capability, social change, and networked economic structures are compounding faster than most firms plan for.
AI in the firm. Artificial intelligence is reshaping work structures, information flows, and the interfaces firms use with clients.
Human skills sharpen. As machines take on more analysis and production, distinctly human skills such as judgment, trust, and creativity become more valuable.
Redesigning the firm. Reshaping roles and collaboration so that professionals are complemented and augmented by AI.
Beyond black-box services. Knowledge-based relationships that make expertise visible outperform services clients cannot see inside.
The vanguard. Professional services firms that combine machine capability with deep human expertise will create more value for clients than either could alone.

Who it is for

Partners, practice leaders, and professional services executives who need a practical view of how AI and human expertise combine to serve clients.

Recent keynotes

Creating the Future of Professional Services, Wotton + Kearney
Creating a Positive Future of Government, Clayton Utz
Brave New World: Utopia or Dystopia?, Managing Partner Forum
The Future of Client Leadership, EY
Infinite Potential, HTW
Strategies to Build Deeper Client Relationships, Moss Adams

Ross has also delivered a keynote to the top 200 leaders of one of the world’s largest professional services firms, led the kick-off workshop for the global leadership development program of a top advertising conglomerate, and run a three-day strategic thinking workshop for the top emerging leaders of a global professional services firm.