The Professionals is a big fan of the army of consultants that work with professional services firms. They are the unsung heroes of the marketing and business development world.
They challenge firms to go further, faster and to think differently. They bring deep knowledge, new products and support that goes way beyond what marketing and business development teams can achieve on their own.
That is why The Professionals asked three consultants for their thoughts on what professional services firms will face in 2026 – Sam Stamp at Legal Engine, Ben Kent at Meridian West and Ben Webb at Ambition.
The future is already here
Sam Stamp, Legal Engine
Predictions are a fool’s game. But I like games!
My overarching prediction is that I expect the potential of available technology will continue to diverge from people’s and society’s capacity to absorb it.
What do I mean by that? I mean, basically, the far too oft-quoted ‘The future’s already here, it’s just unevenly distributed’. We can already do unbelievable things using AI (and a whole number of other and related technologies), but people’s brains can only move so fast, and societal structures move several orders more slowly.
I think this divergence will have a few other knock-on effects.
Increased frustration. People already express this in a variety of ways, be that because you can see how cool things could be but can’t get the systems around you to adapt to it. Or because you’ve tried some things and they haven’t worked.
Perhaps this frustration will lead to a tougher fundraising environment for AI companies as they need to prove traction and impact. This feels like an obvious one, but equally, there is a well-established self-funding cartel at the top of this AI mountain that might just keep things floating.
Decision time. There will be more and more decisions for leaders to make about what transformational changes they support.
I genuinely believe this will lead to more differentiated outcomes in the next 12 months. Take law firms, do you invest millions in Harvey and Legora et al.? Or do you invest in changing your underlying business model and process? Can you do both? If you can’t, is there a right order to do it?
There will be an impact on hiring. The budget for change has to come from somewhere, and I expect there to be direct and visible market trends that show reduced hiring (of humans) as a result of AI investment.
There’s been a lot of chat about that this year, but little conclusive evidence. I think that evidence will crop up.
Sam Stamp is the co-founder of Legal Engine, a platform building voice-based AI Assistants to tackle the business-critical but often overlooked tasks in law firms, from directory submissions to CRM updates and BD content.
Client expectations and insight-driven decisions
Meridian West recently hosted a webinar exploring trends for 2026. Here, Ben Kent shares three headliners for the year ahead.
Escalating client expectations
— Client expectations will continue to “ratchet up” with more rigorous demands on fundamentals
— Same-day responsiveness will become the expected standard
— Greater demand for fee transparency and clarity on work management
— Increased expectations for transparency on diversity policies, ESG policies, and team composition
— The definition of “trusted advisor” is shifting – strong personal relationships and commercial advice are now just table stakes rather than differentiators
— Strategic advisors will need to act as part of the in-house team, institutionalising client knowledge across the firm and serving as ‘policeman’ to ensure quality across jurisdictions
Insight-driven strategic decisions
— Firms will get “really smart” about using client insight to shape strategic decisions
— Operating in a “low loyalty environment” where clients have options and will exercise them
— Success will require not just collecting feedback but driving impact and change from that research
— Firms cannot assume they’ll retain mandates without actively understanding and responding to evolving client needs
Client-first career model emerging
— Increased focus on early career professionals and a new model of career development
— Expectation of a “snowball effect” beginning in 2026 around client-focused career development
— This represents a potential new source of competitive advantage
The Meridian West webinar can be watched here.
Ben Kent is the founding director of Meridian West.
A sharper divide between business development and marketing
Law firms are entering 2026 with a clear shift toward specialised functions, creating a sharper divide between business development (BD) and marketing. BD leaders face growing pressure to maximise budgets and deliver value in a crowded market, driving investment in insights, analytics, pricing, and growth roles. These changes are also reshaping organisational structures, with an increase in titles such as chief client officer, chief growth officer and chief commercial officer.
Despite lots of noise about shrinking business services headcount, firms are largely redistributing roles, replacing some junior positions with senior hires to meet strategic demands or swapping traditional BD roles for specialised functions like insights or client-focused positions.
Talent pipelining will remain a challenge in 2026, particularly at executive levels, due to limited investment in entry-level roles during 2025. To futureproof their teams, firms will need to think of creative ways to bring talent through from more junior levels to open new career pathways into the sector, while upskilling existing staff to meet evolving market needs.
AI continues to reshape BD and marketing by automating administrative tasks and enabling professionals to focus on higher-value work. Rather than eliminating jobs, AI is creating opportunities. While we have seen new Tech/AI-focused roles emerge, the expectation moving into 2026 is that broader BD and marketing teams will become more tech-savvy and fully embrace AI, with the marketing function positioned as a leading voice on how law firms adopt and utilise it.
Market dynamics are shifting rapidly. Global firms are increasingly location-agnostic, expanding headcount across EMEA rather than concentrating in London. UK–US mergers are expected to accelerate as competition for market share and talent intensifies. The growth of US firms in London has already disrupted the market, driving salaries upward and pressuring UK firms to scale and diversify. For boutique and mid-market firms, we’re likely to see more consolidation and private equity backing, creating both disruption and new opportunities for BD and marketing.
Ben Webb is the Divisional Manager of BD, Marketing & Communications, at Ambition