The Future of the Firm

Hosted by Source

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Episodes

100

Latest episode

Jun 2026

Language

EN-GB

About the show

Conversations with experts that explore the big trends shaping the professional services industry.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

June 16, 202640 min

How is AI transforming consulting and what's next for firms?

In this episode of the Future of the Firm podcast, Bhaskar Ghosh, former Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Accenture, joins Emma Carroll, Head of Client Voice at Source, to explore how AI is already transforming the consulting industry and the big mistakes firms must avoid making. In this episode, we explore the following questions and more: Will AI shrink or grow the consulting industry? Is the biggest risk to consulting firms not job losses, but loss of judgement? How will AI impact firm profitability? How can firms navigate the "Three C's" (cannibalisation, cost structure, capabilities) of AI disruption? Where will clients really need consultants to unlock value from AI? What is the biggest mistake consulting leaders risk making around AI?

June 1, 202632 min

Trends in how clients are using AI – agentic and more…

In this episode of the Future of the Firm podcast, Francine Bennett, Board Member at the Ada Lovelace Institute and at The British Library, joins Emma Carroll, Head of Client Voice at Source, to explore the rapid evolution of AI and its practical implications for business leaders. Drawing on over 20 years of experience, Francine address the following questions and more: Where are we with agentic AI, and how far have businesses really got with its adoption? In what ways are multimodal AI and direct speech-to-speech voice models transforming customer interactions? How can leaders effectively leverage AI for strategy development while keeping human judgement at its heart? Why does mandating AI adoption through blunt metrics (like number of hours spent using AI) backfire, and what is a better approach to building workforce skills? Where can consultants add the most value for clients around AI? Where are we with the challenge posed by hallucinations and overconfident AI outputs today? If you enjoyed this conversation, we have a whole catalogue of back episodes for you to delve into. In a recent episode, we sat down with Geert van den Goor, CEO at Valcon, to talk about the new competitive advantage of regional firms.

May 22, 202622 min

Reinventing technology alliances in professional services firms

In this episode of the Future of the Firm podcast, Paul Clark, Partner & Global Alliance Leader - EY Microsoft at EY, joins Fiona Czerniawska, CEO at Source, to discuss reinventing technology alliances. We address following questions and more: Is AI ushering in a new era of implementation partner dynamics? You don't get to the lightbulb through continuous reinvention of the candle. How can we reimagine the entire partner model to integrate deep domain expertise, sector insights, and an understanding of business processes? What if the real value of AI isn't replacing people, but amplifying human capability at scale? Are clients moving beyond the traditional divide between business and technology teams to fully integrated decision making? AI could completely reshape the future of payment models in professional services. Will outcomes-based pricing become the new normal? With large-scale alliances like EY-Microsoft, how can firms work together to make the most of the expertise on both sides? If you enjoyed this conversation, don't miss our sister podcast, Business Leader's Voice. In the latest podcast episode, we spoke to Andrea Lattimore, Global Director – Compliance & Business Integrity at Vodafone, to explore how trust can be leveraged as a driver of growth and resilience in a global organisation.

May 18, 202616 min

How to avoid drowning in a thought leadership "sea of sameness": Insights from Source's quality ratings report 2026

In this episode of the Future of the Firm podcast, Natasha Cambell, Principal Consultant at Source, and Nicola Kostrzewska, Senior Consultant at Source, join Emma Carroll, Head of Client Voice, to explore the themes and findings of the latest Quality Ratings of Thought Leadership report. Natasha and Nicola share insights that challenge the industry to rethink how content is created and activated to stand out in an increasingly crowded market and overcome the much-discussed "sea of sameness". They address questions including: What does great quality thought leadership look like from the perspective of senior buyers? How is the rise of AI fuelling demand for innovation and making extreme audience specificity the most successful strategy for differentiation? What made top-tier campaigns so provocative and successful? Why do most clients rank "having a sense of how firms can help" as such a crucial attribute of thought leadership, and how can firms demonstrate this without resorting to a hard sell? How can thought leadership teams consistently adopt an audience-first approach to build empathy with executives? If you enjoyed this conversation, don't miss our sister podcast, Business Leader's Voice. In the latest podcast episode, we spoke to Andrea Lattimore, Global Director – Compliance & Business Integrity at Vodafone, to explore how trust can be leveraged as a driver of growth and resilience in a global organisation.

May 4, 202636 min

Transforming asset-based consulting as a route to growth

In this episode of the Future of the Firm podcast, Andy Baldwin, Global Managing Partner & SVP Offerings & Growth at IBM Consulting, joins Fiona Czerniawska, CEO at Source, to explore the rapidly evolving landscape of asset-based consulting. Andy shares insights that challenge the industry to rethink how traditional human consultants integrate with digital software assets and autonomous agents. We address questions including: What is "asset-based consulting" and how do productivity-based assets differ from business-value assets? How will consulting firms transition away from the traditional time-and-materials pricing model to consumption-based plans? Why is it essential for consulting firms to build software-style product management capabilities? How are predefined agents and fully autonomous systems fundamentally changing client experience and delivery models? In a complex IT landscape packed with overlapping tools, why is the demand for a centralised "agent management platform" becoming critical for clients? How will delivery models change over the next 5 to 10 years, and what will separate the winners from the losers? If you are interested in how generative AI and autonomous agents could reshape the consulting profession, this conversation is for you. If you enjoyed this conversation, don't miss our sister podcast, Business Leader's Voice. In this series, we talk directly to business leaders about what is disrupting their industries, what occupies their headspace.

April 21, 202630 min

The new competitive advantage of regional firms

In this episode of the Future of the Firm podcast, Geert van den Goor, CEO at Valcon, joins Emma Carroll, Head of Client Voice at Source, to talk about the new competitive advantage of regional firms. Geert takes us through Valcon's growth journey towards a "European powerhouse" model that balances regional expertise with the scale necessary to deliver tangible, AI-driven business transformation. In this episode, we explore the following questions and more: Given the rapid pace of political and economic change, will transformation work itself need to change? How is client behaviour evolving in Europe, and how does this differ to in the US? What are the advantages of a firm that acts as a "regional powerhouse"? What will be critical to success of regional firms in the next five years? If you enjoyed this podcast, then you won't want to miss our recent Emerging Trends report, The new consulting frontier: Adapting to global economic change. It dives into clients' attitudes towards globalisation for their own businesses and what they want from firms' geographic delivery models. To buy the report or for more information, get in touch.

March 24, 202625 min

Rethinking Audit: a creative journey

In this episode of the Future of the Firm podcast, Jo Rhoden, Executive Director at Tapestry Networks, joins Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source, for a creative journey to rethink the audit profession. Speaking in her personal capacity, Jo shares insights from her recent series of blogs on the future of audit, challenging the industry to look beyond compliance and standardisation to innovation and creativity. We address questions including: Beyond the obvious impact of technology, what are the other major drivers of change in the audit market today? How can technology and human creativity intersect to deliver the best outcomes? Can technology ever truly exercise professional judgment, or will this always require human oversight? Why do "soft skills" like storytelling, imagination, and relationship-building remain the strength of humans in this field? In a world of "noise" and deep fakes, how can audit evolve to become a primary enabler of trust? What practical steps can firms take right now to prepare their workforce for this new world of audit? If you are interested in how human creativity could reshape audit, this conversation is for you. If you enjoyed this conversation, don't miss our sister podcast, Business Leader's Voice. In this series, we talk directly to business leaders about what is disrupting their industries, what occupies their headspace, and what it is really like for them to work with professional services firms.

March 9, 202627 min

How client needs are changing and what opportunities this creates for firms

In this episode of the Future of the Firm podcast, Nicki Wakefield, Global Clients and Industries Leader at PwC, joins Emma Carroll, Head of Client Voice at Source, to talk about how client needs are changing and the opportunities this creates for firms. Nicki shares her insights on the shift towards long-term partnerships that focus on deeply understanding the client's unique context, working towards measurable outcomes, and building solid foundations in data and strategy to effectively scale AI. In this episode, we explore the following questions and more: How are clients' priorities and the services they'll need changing? How are clients responding to industry convergence? What is changing about how clients want to work with consulting firms? How are new client needs creating opportunities for consulting firms? Where do firms go wrong when it comes to understanding their clients? In this ever-shifting professional services landscape, it's crucial to be on top of how clients' needs and priorities are changing as the world does. This conversation provides crucial insight and expertise to help turn client pain points into opportunities for your firm. If you enjoyed this conversation, don't miss our sister podcast, Business Leader's Voice. In this series, we talk directly to business leaders about what is disrupting their industries, what occupies their headspace, and what it is really like for them to work with professional services firms.

February 10, 202617 min

The commercial value of research for professional services firms

In this episode of our Future of the Firm podcast, Alison Huntington, Global Commercial Strategy and Insights Leader at Russell Reynolds, sits down with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source, to discuss how firms can create true commercial value from their research—both now and in the future. We consider the following questions and more: Beyond the traditional white paper, what content falls under the category of "insights" today? In what ways do successful firms use research to create value for themselves and their clients? What examples are there of this being done well? How do the marketing funnel and mapping the customer journey come into play? What are the biggest mistakes firms make when trying to commercialise their research? With AI changing the game, how will the role of insights and research evolve in the coming years? If you are a professional services leader looking to ensure your insights are not static but instead drive revenue, this conversation is for you. If you enjoyed this conversation, don't miss our sister podcast, Business Leader's Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Ahmed Abdel Wahab, General Manager for India at Mars, about what it takes to be a truly authentic leader today, particularly in a time of volatility.

January 27, 202616 min

The impact of AI on the pricing of professional services

In this episode of our Future of the Firm podcast, Fiona Czerniawska, Source CEO, sits down with Head of Content, Emma Carroll, to tackle one of the most pressing issues on firm agendas today: the impact of AI on the pricing of professional services. We consider the following questions and more: What's worrying firms about the use of AI in their operating models and the impact on pricing in particular? Will the efficiency gains of AI shrink the market and result in a catastrophe for firms? How does Source's new AI impact model work, what does it deliver for firms, and why is this insight needed now? What does our data tell us about how the size of the tax market (for example) could change? Is focusing solely on efficiency the biggest mistake a firm can make in the age of AI? If you are a consulting leader thinking about how to price your AI-enabled services and how to model future market sizes then this conversation provides the insight you need to plan effectively. If you'd like to discover more about how AI could reshape your own firm, contact us. We'd be happy to share our research into the impact AI might have on the tax market. Or we could explore a custom study to understand how other capabilities and lines of business may be set to change along with the implications for your firm.