Accelerating Innovation Adoption in Next Generation Professional Service Firms

Mid-tier accounting and law firms (with revenues between £5m and £250m) can improve productivity and enhance their services to clients and society if they use digital technology - including artificial intelligence - more effectively. But they are often reluctant to adopt technology. This is partly because they are uncertain about which technology to use, how to use it, and whether it will be of benefit. The partnership structures of accountancy and law firms, the traditional roles and identities of lawyers and accountants, and external factors such as education, training, regulation and career structures can also present obstacles to technology adoption.

This project will provide structured methods and supporting resources to help selected accountancy and law firms accelerate their technology adoption. In doing this, the project team will also learn in more depth about how the various forms of support contribute to helping firms, and how the various obstacles can impede progress. This understanding will be used to develop templates, tools and support to help other firms in future. It will also be used to change the context in which adoption is undertaken, by bringing to the surface and reducing the obstacles presented by rules, regulations, assumptions and patterns of working that result from firms' interactions with other organisations such as professional bodies, regulators, government departments, clients and technology vendors. Overall, the project will create a market where technology adoption is less risky, complicated and potentially threatening, and therefore easier to do with confidence.

The project will cater for firms at different stages of experience with technology adoption, from relative beginners to those who already use some technology but would like to extend its use. Three types of acceleration will be provided, depending on the starting-point of the firms. For beginners, basic training and advice will be provided to help them use software such as Microsoft 365 that they already have. The aim here will be to get the firms started by conducting a short project to implement the technology for one pilot application in the firm. For those who are a little more prepared, resources, technical advice and support will be provided, and a cohort of about eight to ten firms formed, who will help and encourage each other in their adoption projects. Mentoring will be provided as firms conduct their projects, and work towards a concluding event where they demonstrate what they have achieved within their firms, to the other firms, and to the wider project community. Two to four more advanced firms will get the technical or managerial help needed to further advance their technology adoption journey, and to build ways to demonstrate the value of innovation adoption more clearly. For all firms involved in the project, an innovation adoption acceleration fund will help de-risk investments in new digital technologies - this being crucial to secure participation in the project and create opportunities to learn about will create a sustainable market for innovation adoption in the future.

The project team will draw together insights about which of the various forms of acceleration help are successful, for firms at different stages, and what can be done to remove obstacles in the wider social and business environment. By exhibiting outcomes widely, and consulting through workshops and roundtable meetings, the team will develop tools and roadmaps, and recommend policy changes that make adoption easier and less risky for firms, from beginners to more experienced adopters. This process of learning about how to make acceleration happen in these sectors will also lead to research findings and better theories about how innovation adoption can be accelerated more generally. It will also reveal how professions in general, and accountancy and law in particular, adapt to and sometimes resist the changes needed for digital adoption.