NextGenPSF Webinar Series

Technology during and beyond the crisis: Shaping the future of professional services

Amidst the Covid-19 crisis professional service firms have changed their ways of working, taking operations online. The ability and agility with which firms have come to embrace digital technologies and virtual working has been unprecedented, but is there an opportunity to develop new ways of working as opposed to simply taking old operations online?

While the priority has been in adapting to the new normal, evidence has shown that there is an increased appetite for and engagement with technology. Ensuring that firms realise and leverage the advantages effectively adopting and implementing technologies to enable and augment new ways of working can be challenging. However, where successful such technologies may represent the first steps in the wider transformation of the firm.

Navigating this process requires understanding the value of data and potential technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to the future of Professional Services Firms. The Next Generation Services project team, in partnership with KTN, offered an informative lunchtime programme focused on the organisational and operational opportunities and challenges associated with becoming AI ready.

Our series of weekly webinars, delivered by leading academics and professionals, drew on their experience from across the professional services. As well as sharing their own perspectives and experiences on the opportunities and challenges facing the future of professional services firms, there was opportunities for questions and discussion about how technology is changing the way we work and how this will continue in a post Covid world.

WEBINAR 1

Now is the time for tech: The future of professional services beyond the crisis

The crisis has seen an increased engagement with digital technologies, and the aim of this webinar is to explore how professional services firms can capitalise on this momentum to promote the uptake and use of more advanced capabilities. Our Speakers were:

Shamus Rae

Chief Executive Officer Engine B
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Sue Daley

Associate Director (Technology & Innovation)TechUK
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Bruce Tether

NextGenPSF Co-IUniversity of Manchester
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April Brousseau

Global LeadClifford Chance
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Tim Vorley

NextGenPSF PIOxford Brookes University
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Richard Chaplin

SESSION CHAIR
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WEBINAR 2

From Enduring to Adapting: Embedding change in professional service firm

It is increasingly apparent that in the wake of Covid-19 world firms are changing their business models to operate in a crisis context, this webinar explores how to embrace opportunities for technological change and business model innovation moving forwards. It is crucial for firms to embrace and embed changes in their working practices and culture if they are to realise their full potential to enhance productivity and profitability. The speakers were:

Bob Booth

Vice PresidentIBM
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Carlo Cordasco

NextGenPSF Co-IUniversity of Sheffield
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James Faulconbridge

NextGenPSF Co-ILancaster University
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Kirstin Gillon

Technical managerICAEW
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Marcus Scott

COOThe City UK
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Isabel Parker

SESSION CHAIRNon-executive Director Panoram
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WEBINAR 3

Seizing opportunities: Technology and the future of the firm

This webinar explored how the pandemic has demanded firms to operate virtually in a way that is unprecedented and arguably marks a new era for technology in the professions. Where firms go from here will define their future competitiveness, and this session explores the challenge for firm wide leaders not just to bounce back, but bounce forward. This session had talks from:

Derek Southall

Founder and CEOHyperscale Group
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Isabel Parker

Non-executive Director Panoram
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Becky Shields

PartnerKingston Smith
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Sophia Adams-Bhatti

Head of Strategy and PolicyWavelength
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Martin Spring

NextGenPSF Co-ILancaster University
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Lucy Kimbell

SESSION CHAIR
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WEBINAR 4

Adopting AI in Professional Services Firms : An International Perspective

AI adoption in Professional Services Firms is set to bring with it unprecedented benefits such as wider access to public goods (e.g. health, justice). However, it also faces significant challenges in terms of lack of technological maturity, access to data, budget constraints and reluctance to change. In this webinar we explore whether such challenges differ or align across different countries. This webinar had discussions from:

Sebastian Hartmann

Global Head of Technology StrategyKPMG
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Giulio Coraggio

PartnerDLA Piper Italy
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Tzameret Rubin

NextGenPSF Co-ILoughborough University
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Dimitrios Tsarapatsanis

Lecturer in LawUniversity of York
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Stephen Denyer

Director of Strategic RelationshipsThe Law Society
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Bob Booth

SESSION CHAIRVice PresidentIBM
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WEBINAR 5

The Realities of Adopting AI in Mid-Tier Firms

The opportunities but also challenges of adopting new technology were on the agenda of many mid-tier firms before the disruptions of Covid-19, and are even more important now. In this webinar we explore the approaches, experiences and challenges faced by firms. Our expert panel will consider the distinctive opportunities technology creates for the mid-tier and the way technology can help firms prosper in an ever more competitive business environment. Featuring:

Harry Iliffe

Enterprise Account Director – Professional ServicesCapita Workplace Technology
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Mark Day

Chief Executive OfficerLaw South Group Limited

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Siân Ashton

Client Service Transformation PartnerTLT
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Catriona Wolfenden

Innovation ManagerWeightmans
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Karim Derrick

Product and Innovation DirectorKennedys
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James Faulconbridge

SESSION CHAIRNextGenPSF Co-ILancaster University
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WEBINAR 6

Incubators, Incubation and Nurturing Technology in the Professions

Some of the most successful technologies transforming professional services have their roots in an incubator, where they benefit from unique collaborative work environments, networks, mentorship, prototype testing and investment opportunities. In this seminar, we place the incubation experience centre-stage and ask internationally leading incubators to share how they spawn innovation, help create cutting-edge technology and operate at the vanguard of professional services change. Talks from:

Laura Collins Scott

Create+65Clifford Chance
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Ville Simola

CEO Maria 01
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Sophie Martinetz

FounderSeinfeld Professionals
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Hersh Perlis

DirectorLegal Innovation Zone
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Jorge Martins

SESSION CHAIRNextGenPSF Co-IUniversity of Sheffield
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WEBINAR 7

Preparing and educating the next generation of lawyers and law workers

While technologies, including machine learning and other forms of artificial intelligence can be expected to diffuse into law firms and legal services, the speed, ultimate extent and shape of their diffusion remains unclear. This creates challenges in knowing what skills lawyers and others working in legal services will require in the future. This webinar will therefore consider what types of people, in terms of skills and abilities will be needed in the “law firm of the future”. Should lawyers learn to code, for example, or would it be better that they learn to collaborate with technical specialists. The webinar will also discuss how the education and training system, including university law schools, can and should respond to this. Interesting talks and discussions by:

Joanna Kingston Davies

Chief Operating OfficerJackson Lees Group
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Andrea Marshall

Resource Coordination ManagerFreshfields

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Stuart Whittle

Partner and Innovation GuruWeightmans
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Jonathan Patterson

Managing DirectorDWF Ventures
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John Haskell

Senior Lecturer in Law University of Manchester
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Claire Mcgourlay

SESSION CHAIRProfessor of Legal EducationUniversity of Manchester
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WEBINAR 8

Opportunities and Dilemmas of IT in Professional Services (Customer Versus Client Perspectives)

Though the utilisation of sophisticated, emerging technological solutions by professional services firms is becoming more prevalent, many are not adopting these technologies. Typically, this is due to concerns regarding their efficacy or their cost effectiveness. In response, this webinar explores some of the ways that new technologies can create value for organisations of all sizes and considers major barriers to their adoption. The speakers were:


James Sullivan

Head of Legal & Company SecretaryMonzo Bank
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Neil Bruce

Vice President & Group Counsel American Express
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Ify Okoli-Watson

Assistant General Counsel Thomson Reuters
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Alistair Maiden

CEOSYKE
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Fraser McLeay

SESSION CHAIRProfessor of MarketingUniversity of Sheffield
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WEBINAR 9

What will the future of professional services firms look like? Using scenarios to explore uncertainties

Although the future is inherently unknowable, key uncertainties can be identified which can help firms and regulators prepare for different outcomes. Using scenarios can help reveal assumptions, stress-test strategies and enable strategic conversations. To explore these issues, this webinar brings together people with different perspectives gained from using scenarios to help professionals and leaders explore the future of work, the professions and technology. It includes key insights from three 2030 scenarios exploring AI for mid-sized law and accounting firms developed by the Next Generation Professional Services Firms project team. The speakers for this webinar were:

Gerard Drenth

PartnerNormannPartners
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Lucy Kimbell

NextGenPSF Co-IUniversity of the Arts London

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Stephen Ward

Director of Strategy and External RelationsCouncil for Licensed Conveyancers
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Fabian Wallace-Stephens

Senior ResearcherRSA
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Hilary Smyth-Allen

SESSION CHAIRKnowledge Exchange Fellow/Senior Policy LeadUniversity of Sheffield and West Midlands BPFS
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