Professional Services at a Crossroads: Why the Time for Change Is Now

Tomorrow at Converge, Kantata will unveil a bold new vision for professional services. But before we look forward, I want to talk about where we stand today — and why the services industry finds itself at a true crossroads.

For decades, professional services has been powered by human effort and managed by tools that do little more than attempt to automate the back office. Hours worked. Tasks tracked. Projects staffed. It’s an industry that has existed to guide its clients through transformation, while largely avoiding a transformation of its own.

Transformation isn’t a choice anymore. The industry is moving, with or without you. Conversations with senior service leaders all acknowledge that AI is changing their business, that agents and automation are not the sole answer, that they need to adapt fast, and that they need a partner to help them.

Kantata is not going to follow the crowd, we are going to blaze a bold path — one we have developed in partnership with our community and could not be more excited to share this week.

Why the Old Playbook No Longer Works

The traditional professional services playbook — selling projects, tracking time, scaling headcount, searching for siloed expertise — is running out of road. Margins are under pressure. Client expectations are accelerating. Revenue growth is no longer tethered to scaling headcount. The “heroics” of individual experts can’t scale. And expertise and knowledge, the very soul of your business, still walks out the door when people leave.

In this new era, the winners will be the firms that embrace transformation and turn their collective expertise into a compounding and accessible asset, not those who simply automate and improve the status quo.

A New Era of AI-Augmented Expertise

Think of everything your firm has already achieved: every proposal won, every project delivered, every outcome achieved, every conversation with a client. Imagine if all of that knowledge were instantly accessible, constantly updating, and guiding every engagement you take on from this point forward.

AI is the catalyst that is making this shift possible — though many aren’t using it to its full potential, instead only focusing on its ability to automate tasks and create incremental time savings. AI’s real promise lies in capturing and connecting the knowledge your firm has already created, ensuring that the wisdom behind your best projects and strongest client outcomes becomes instantly available to guide the decisions of every team member.

That is the path forward. Scaling outcomes without scaling headcount. Proving impact, not just effort. Boldly transforming every interaction, not just automating the repeatable, while empowering your people to specialize in what is invaluable. In short: putting your expertise to work at a whole new level.

The Choice Ahead

The services industry is about to undergo its most profound transformation yet. Some firms will cling to the status quo and be left behind. Others will seize this moment to embrace new operating models, powered by AI, that allow them to deliver more value, at higher margins, with greater confidence than ever before.

At Kantata, we know where we stand. We’re committed to leading this change — and tomorrow at Converge, we’ll share how we plan to do exactly that with a new Expertise Engine designed to power the new era of professional services.

Because the time for incremental improvement is over. The future belongs to those bold enough to reimagine how services are delivered.

Register for Kantata Converge 2025 today!