Guest article: Sholto Lindsay-Smith, Industry
I was speaking recently to a client who has moved from leading their firm’s marketing function into developing its operational AI capability. As we talked about where professional services marketing is heading, he said something that stuck with me: “You’re in the right job. In the future, only two things will really matter. AI and brand.”
The more I have reflected on that conversation, the more I think he is right.
Over the next decade, these will be the two forces that shape competitive advantage in professional services. AI will transform how work is delivered. Brand will determine who clients trust, choose and stay with. For marketing leaders, that distinction matters.
AI’s impact is already visible. It delivers efficiency, accuracy and speed of execution at a scale that was previously impossible. Research, analysis, drafting and other process-heavy tasks can now be completed faster and more consistently than ever. As the technology matures, we should expect increasing standardisation across many areas of legal, accounting and advisory work. Technical capability, turnaround times and pricing will begin to converge.
In that environment, AI does not become a lasting differentiator. It becomes an expectation. Firms that fail to adopt it will fall behind quickly, but firms that do adopt it will soon find their capabilities mirrored elsewhere. AI raises the baseline across the market. It does not, on its own, create preference.
This is where brand becomes more important, not less.
In professional services, brand and culture shape far more than external communications. They influence service experience, judgement and behaviour. They affect how confident clients feel in the advice they receive and how much risk they believe they are taking by choosing one firm over another. Brand also provides continuity as firms adapt, helping organisations change how they operate without losing clarity about who they are or what they stand for.
As AI handles more of the technical execution, the role of the professional increasingly shifts towards interpretation and reassurance. Professionals become the human interface between complex technology and client objectives. In practice, they become brand ambassadors, whether they think of themselves that way or not.
For marketers, this reframes the role of brand. It is no longer simply about visibility or differentiation. It becomes a trust framework. Clients will need to trust not only your people, but the AI-enabled systems that underpin your advice. In much the same way that a firm’s reputation has long reassured clients about technical excellence, it will increasingly reassure them about the governance and reliability of AI-powered services.
Scale still matters here. Larger firms retain an advantage through their ability to invest in AI capability and through established brand awareness. The imprimatur of a major audit or law firm continues to carry weight with boards, investors and regulators as AI becomes more embedded in service delivery.
That said, this is not a closed market. AI-enabled specialists could build credible niche brands by offering clarity, consistency and speed in areas such as conveyancing, payroll or valuation. As AI lowers barriers to entry and increases service parity, markets will become more crowded. In that environment, clients will gravitate towards brands that feel intuitive, dependable and easy to work with.
For marketing leaders, the implication is clear. Brand can no longer be treated as a layer applied after operational decisions have been made. It must evolve alongside AI capability. The challenge is not just to communicate expertise, but to help shape organisations that clients trust to use AI intelligently and responsibly.
AI is changing how work gets done. Brand will decide who gets chosen.
For over 30 years, Sholto has consulted on brand and corporate communications. Taking the strategic lead at Industry his experience spans the full breadth of the legal, accountancy and property sectors.