Innovating Next Generation Services through Collaborative Design

Professional service firms are facing increasing challenges from A.I .and machine learning technologies. Whilst these technological innovations are important for growth and productivity, how they are integrated into business practices and business m is of critical concern. This project focuses on the role that collaborative exploration about future uncertainties can play in the design and implementation of new A.I. technologies in accounting and legal services. The project focuses on the ways in which businesses can think about changing the way they work through a collaborative design model that considers current and future pathways for A.I. technologies and the broader, dynamic institutional landscape. The project addresses the UK Industrial Strategy's Grand Challenge which calls for a consideration of how AI technologies can boost UK national productivity and growth. The project will focus specifically on synthesising insights from business model innovation, operations management, studies of professional service firms, developments in AI, and service design to understand how innovation in PSFs is adopted and assimilated. The project team will connect these multidisciplinary academic insights with the on-the-ground understandings and perspectives of innovators in professional services firms. To achieve the aims, the project will maintain a focus on people's experiences of new products and services within mid-market firms which are particularly sensitive to technological change due to their size, the threat of competition, and resources. Rather than focusing solely on the technology itself, the research will generate insights into a human-centric role for innovation and the integration of transformative AI technologies. The research will look to undertake exploratory prototyping of solutions designed in collaboration with firms to enable a rapid generation and assessment of potential future applications of AI across the business model. This is critical in the objective of the project to broaden participation of those within firms in exploring challenges and strategies within professional service firms. Finally, the project seeks to translate research insights into multiple formats and media, addressing the different needs and demands of firms working within the challenges of rapid technological transformation. Key to the project will be the exploration and identification of the main areas of 'threat' and 'opportunity' offered by the adoption of AI in accounting and law as well as analysing the potential barriers to AI-based business model innovation. The findings will be used to offer proposals as to how these might be addressed. Alongside the technological barriers, the research will seek to explore the institutional, regulatory and societal challenges that face PSFs. By integrating these objectives with co-creative practices the project seeks to provide strategies and business solutions for those at the coalface of AI and machine learning. The project will be delivered through five work packages. These will include an initial phase exploring institutional factors, and opportunities and barriers, before designing strategies through direct collaboration with firms in 'design sprints' informed by the research perspectives of the project team. The final phase will synthesize the evidence and findings to generate important academic and practitioner outputs as well as dissemination through partner stakeholders and organisations. Through our close collaboration with the Managing Partners' Forum, the project will have access to mid-size firms across the 2 sectors identified. This research will deliver important academic insights into the ways in which a design thinking approach can expand our notion of innovation and seek to provide key recommendations that will shape how AI is implemented and how professional service firms can frame their responses to rapid technological change.