KPMG’s decision to rate staff on their use of artificial intelligence tools in annual performance reviews is more than symbolic. It marks a structural shift in how professional services firms define performance and value. This change is long overdue.
There’s a persistent misconception that AI transformation is a technology problem. But it’s really a people and skills problem. Every firm is talking about tools, pilots, and vendors. Yet, as a July study out of MIT showed, around 95% of AI initiatives still fail to make a measurable impact on the bottom line.
Leaders still treat AI as something that simply can be plugged in instead of something that rewires the firm itself. But real transformation happens when individuals redesign the operating model with technology at the center.
Tools, Talent, Platforms
KPMG’s move formalizes what many challenger firms already recognize. In private-equity-backed and founder-led advisory platforms, performance reviews, as well as interviews for new hires, already ask how people are using technology to scale their impact. The firms growing fastest are those that quickly and skilfully develop AI expertise.
Professional services’ future model is people plus products—expertise built into code, embedded in workflow, and delivered at scale. Real growth now sits in recurring revenue models such as compliance monitoring, AI-driven diligence, instant contract review, finance managed services, and outcome-based subscriptions. That’s where client loyalty becomes unbreakable.
For years, clients paid for access to smart people. Increasingly, they want capability built directly into their operating systems. If your business model still relies on armies of mid-managers billing by the hour, you’re already priced like a commodity.
But AI has changed the math. What took weeks now takes days, and what took days now takes hours. The middle of the pyramid is being hollowed out.
Generational Change
Many firms risk creating a lost generation of professionals who missed the AI inflection point. Individuals who didn’t grow up with these tools may find it uncomfortable or may be unwilling to change. But just as Excel once separated the modern consultant from the typewriter generation, AI will soon define the professional baseline.
Some firms have already taken action. In recent months, Accenture has justified the layoffs of tens of thousands of staff who they deemed unable to reskill in AI. Every hour of work must now deliver more leverage, and that leverage comes from AI-enabled productivity, not just human effort.
KPMG’s leadership has made it clear that everyone, from partners to juniors, must bring AI into their work. That signals a new social contract inside these firms. Everyone, not just leadership, must demonstrate how they create value through technology.
Culture Over Compliance
Firms that treat AI adoption as a human-capital challenge rather than a compliance exercise will come out ahead. The ones building cultures of curiosity and experimentation, where professionals are rewarded for rethinking workflows, are already pulling ahead.
The real disruption is coming from startups and technology firms that deliver transformation directly. They aren’t burdened by legacy systems or leaders who insist, “This is how we’ve always done it.” They’re laying down systems clients can’t operate without. That isn’t advice. That is control.
And that’s where the premium will sit—at the intersection of industry expertise and proprietary tools. Fewer layers, sharper spikes of knowledge, workflows that begin with AI and finish with senior judgment. The winners of this era will build code, context, and capability that remain long after the engagement ends.
Doers and Orchestrators
This shift marks the end of the “doer” era in professional services. For decades, firms rewarded those who executed the most work personally: The longest hours, the heaviest workloads, the largest teams beneath them.
AI collapses that model. The most valuable professionals are no longer the ones who do the most; they’re the ones who orchestrate the most leverage.
They design systems, data flows, and AI-enabled processes that multiply output far beyond what any team of humans could deliver. They architect the ecosystem that completes tasks rather than doing it themselves. In the same way the best chief financial officers no longer close the books themselves, the best consultants and advisers will increasingly be the ones who build operating models that scale without them.
KPMG’s move sends a clear message: Making AI use a formal performance metric tells people that if you want to lead, you also must lead in how you work. The next generation of partners won’t just be rainmakers; they’ll be builders of repeatable, technology-enabled intellectual property.
This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, and Bloomberg Government, or its owners.
Author Information
James O’Dowd is founder and CEO of Patrick Morgan.
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