AI in professional services research: AI adoption is rising but impact isn't. Here's how high performers stand out.
SPI Research | sa.global
The 2025 Impact of AI on professional services draws insights from global organizations across five service-centric industries – IT Consulting, Management Consulting, SaaS & Software, Architecture & Engineering, and other professional services to reveal why AI in professional services is delivering uneven results and what high-performing firms are doing differently.
Five service-centric industries:
IT Consulting, Management Consulting, SaaS & Software, Architecture & Engineering, other Professional Services
Professional services organizations:
Americas, EMEA, APAC
SPI Research
Global research for services-driven organizations
"AI will not eliminate professional services but AI-enabled firms will outperform and eventually leave behind those that don't evolve."
2025 SPI Research report | sa.global
The industry is experimenting.
Only a few are executing.
The state of AI in professional services
Artificial intelligence or Gen AI in professional services firms is no longer an abstract concept. It is already embedded in how work gets done.
AI is now present in nearly a quarter of all projects, but its impact varies widely depending on data quality, process discipline, and workforce capability. A clear performance divide is emerging between firms that have built the operational foundations for AI-enabled work and those still addressing skills gaps and fragmented systems.
AI usage is growing, impact is not
Productivity scores moved just 1% year-over-year (3.75 → 3.78), signaling a plateau after early efficiency wins.
ROI timelines have stretched dramatically
Expected time to positive ROI jumped 155% from 7.3 months to 18.5 months as firms discover AI requires deeper foundations than anticipated.
Data quality is the #1 barrier for the second year running
Rated 4.11/5 concern level. Security (3.94) and transparency (3.73) follow. Most firms are fighting foundational issues before reaching advanced AI.
61% of AI pilots are still at basic complexity
Only 10% of professional services firms have reached truly transformational AI. The majority are still operating at the earliest level summarization, drafting, and admin support.
45% of clients expect AI in service delivery
Client expectations are forming faster than firms are adapting. Firms that can't demonstrate AI in delivery will lose competitive bids within two years.
The data behind the divide
AI in professional services by the numbers
of projects across the industry now incorporate AI in delivery
of high-performing firms are 50% more AI-embedded than average
of employees are proficient with AI tools, over 60% are not yet capable
of revenue expected to be AI-related, within 3 years up 63% from 2024
of firms report zero measurable value from AI, despite active adoption
increase in expected time-to-ROI, from 7 months to 18.5 months year-over-year
The gap isn't about AI access.
It's about AI readiness.
The performance divide
SPI’s analysis of high-performing firms (top 18.5%) reveals a consistent pattern: their advantage comes not from having more AI tools, but from having built the foundations clean data, clear workflows, proficient teams, and leadership alignment that allow AI to actually work.
High performers (HPOs)
AI used in active projects
Employee AI proficiency
Current revenue from AI initiatives
Leadership AI support score
Project margin
The Rest of the Market
AI used in active projects
Employee AI proficiency
Current revenue from AI initiatives
Leadership AI support score
Project margin
Side-by-side comparison – HPOs vs industry average
HPO: 30.8% Rest: 25%
HPO: 53% Rest: 36.5%
HPO: 4.38 Rest: 3.95
High performers
Rest of market
AI's strongest returns - ranked by function
The performance divide
Across 26 business activities, AI in service-centric organizations shows clearest wins in knowledge-heavy, unstructured work: drafting, summarizing, researching. More complex operational outcomes – margin analysis, demand planning, talent acquisition remain harder to unlock without stronger data foundations.
Marketing content creation
3.70
Proposal development
3.68
Creation of project deliverables
3.66
Go to market research
3.62
Client research
3.57
Review master services agreements
3.35
Marketing programs
3.33
Project management
3.29
Lead generation
3.25
Data analytics
3.16
Employee training
3.13
Ability to acquire clients
3.09
Resource management
2.93
Reviewing resumes
2.94
Project risk analysis
2.82
Talent strategy
2.77
Project profitability analysis
2.66
Rate analysis
2.53
Demand planning
2.52
Client relationships
Service execution
Talent
Finance & operations
Score out of 5.0 · Source: SPI Research 2025
Marketing content creation
3.70
Proposal development
3.68
Go to market research
3.62
Client research
3.57
Marketing programs
3.33
Lead generation
3.25
Ability to acquire clients
3.09
Client relationships
Service execution
Talent
Finance & operations
Score out of 5.0 · Source: SPI Research 2025
Creation of project deliverables
3.66
Review master services agreements
3.35
Project management
3.29
Resource management
2.93
Project risk analysis
2.82
Client relationships
Service execution
Talent
Finance & operations
Score out of 5.0 · Source: SPI Research 2025
Employee training
3.13
Reviewing resumes
2.94
Talent strategy
2.77
Client relationships
Service execution
Talent
Finance & operations
Score out of 5.0 · Source: SPI Research 2025
Data analytics
3.16
Project profitability analysis
2.66
Rate analysis
2.53
Demand planning
2.52
Client relationships
Service execution
Talent
Finance & operations
Score out of 5.0 · Source: SPI Research 2025
From AI experimentation to execution a proven path forward
Your AI journey with sa.global
sa.global guides service-centric organizations through three progressive stages of AI maturity. We start where you are. We build readiness deliberately. And we help you scale with confidence, clarity, and control.
Humans with assistants
Your teams adopt Microsoft Copilot tools embedded in daily workflows gaining immediate productivity and efficiency benefits within Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365.
Business value delivered
Faster documentation, reporting, proposal drafting, and communication with governance and security built in.
sa.global helps you activate the right Copilot experience based on your team’s requirements, whether out-of-the-box or custom-built around your organizational workflows.
Human-led agents
AI agents work alongside your people handling complex workflows from resourcing to billing to client service while humans stay in control of decisions.
Business value delivered
Predictive operations, better decision-making, reduced revenue leakage, and improved project margins through connected data and intelligence.
sa.global helps you deploy empower Agents designed for service-centric organizations, an AI agentic platform built within your environment to execute key workflows such as resourcing, billing and invoicing, time recording, and onboarding, delivering measurable, end-to-end business outcomes.
Agent-led work
Systems learn and act autonomously within governed boundaries initiating tasks, surfacing insights, and continuously optimizing delivery and financial outcomes.
Business value delivered
Strategic AI ROI higher margins, shorter delivery cycles, and new business models powered by data-driven autonomy.
sa.global helps you drive clear ROI and financial impact through intelligent agent orchestration across your business, enabling end-to-end process automation – delivered through an AI agentic platform built within your environment. We identify high-value transformation opportunities using a structured value-mapping approach based on industry benchmarks.
Explore the data by SPI pillar
Key findings deep dive
The SPI Professional Services Maturity Model measures performance across five pillars. Here’s where AI is and isn’t making its mark.
AI will not fix weak foundations
Firms with over 60% AI proficiency see EBITDA above 23% the highest across maturity levels in 2025. Training is now the strategic lever most leaders are underinvesting in.
Leadership AI strategy and leadership confidence
Leadership confidence in AI adoption dropped from 4.26 to 4.04 year-over-year leaders are scrutinizing AI business cases more rigorously.
Security concern scores declined slightly (3.56 → 3.43) as governance frameworks matured and organizations gained more operating experience.
Average first-year ROI expectation from AI initiatives down from 11.8% in 2024, reflecting a more measured view of AI’s near-term returns.
sa.global insight
The cooling of leadership confidence is healthy, not alarming. Leaders are no longer pushing AI because the market says they should they’re beginning to scrutinize the business case more rigorously. This is exactly where sa.global’s advisory model matters most: helping leadership teams build structured, outcome-linked AI roadmaps that justify investment and minimize risk.
Client relationships Client acquisition, retention and revenue
AI’s highest-rated impact area: creation of marketing content (blogs, white papers, posts) the clearest early win across the entire study.
AI’s impact on client acquisition improved year-over-year (2.88 → 3.09), with proposal development (3.68) and go-to-market research (3.62) leading gains.
Average first-year ROI expectation from AI initiatives down from 11.8% in 2024, reflecting a more measured view of AI’s near-term returns.
sa.global insight
Client-facing AI is developing faster than back-office AI but only for firms with connected data. sa.global’s AI agents for sales and client service help firms capitalize on these gains with domain-grounded intelligence that understands PS service economics, not just generic outputs.
Talent AI proficiency, workforce and skills
Employee AI proficiency increased significantly from 30.1% to 39.9% yet still only 2 in 5 employees can effectively use AI tools.
High-performing firms have 53% AI-proficient employees vs 36.5% for the rest of the market a 45% proficiency gap that correlates directly with stronger margins.
EBITDA achieved by firms with 60%+ AI-proficient employees — the highest performance tier in the 2025 study. Training is now the strategic lever.
sa.global insight
Three out of five consultants can’t effectively use AI tools and yet proficiency is the single strongest predictor of AI ROI in this study. sa.global’s adoption model builds team capability progressively through Copilot-first workflows that feel natural, not forced.
Service execution Project delivery, utilization and AI in projects
AI’s impact on service delivery improved year-over-year (3.52 → 3.77) the most positive signal in the dataset.
Project deliverable creation jumped from 8th to 3rd ranked impact area confirming AI is now trusted deeper in the delivery cycle.
Billable utilization well below the 10-year average of 70.8%. AI displacement effects and soft demand are creating downward pressure on a critical metric.
sa.global insight
Service delivery is where AI is making its most tangible progress — but utilization is sliding. sa.global’s multi-agent orchestration for project management addresses both sides — improving delivery consistency while actively managing utilization and resource allocation.
Finance and operations Profitability, billing and operational AI
Demand planning the lowest-scored AI impact activity in the entire study. Finance & operations is where AI’s current limitations are most visible.
Higher consultant day rates at firms using AI ($1,144 vs $1,024 per day) the clearest measurable financial signal for AI-adopting firms.
Higher project margins at firms using AI (35.8% vs 32.9%) modest but consistent, pointing to operational efficiency gains across the HPO cohort.
sa.global insight
Finance & operations is AI’s hardest domain and its greatest opportunity. sa.global’s AI capabilities for WIP management, predictive billing, and profitability forecasting are built specifically for this gap grounding AI in the financial realities of service-centric businesses.
Global organizations. One clear finding. Is your firm ready?
Get the full report
The 2025 Impact of AI on Professional Services is the most comprehensive benchmark of AI adoption across IT Consulting, Management Consulting, SaaS, Software, Architecture & Engineering, and Other PS. Access the full report to see where your firm stands.
- An extensive report of data-backed findings across all five SPI performance pillars
- High performer benchmarks to compare your AI readiness against the top 18.5% of firms
- Ranked impact analysis across 26 business activities where to focus first
- C-suite takeaways: five evidence-based actions for professional services and ESO leaders
- sa.global foreword: the readiness framework for moving from experimentation to execution
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About the research
The 2025 Impact of AI on Professional Services is an independent benchmark study by Service Performance Insight (SPI Research) the leading authority on professional services performance improvement since 2006. sa.global sponsored the report and contributed the foreword, reflecting its commitment to advancing AI adoption in service-centric organizations.
All findings are based on primary research with organizations across IT Consulting, Management Consulting, SaaS & Software, Architecture & Engineering, and other professional services verticals globally.
SPI Research
- 18-year benchmark track record
- PS Maturity Model™ used by 50,000+ organizations
- Six professional services verticals represented globally
- Independent, unbiased methodology
sa.global
- Microsoft Inner Circle member 3 years
- 11× Microsoft Dynamics Partner of the Year
- Dedicated sa.global labs AI innovation team
- Deep domain expertise in service-centric industries
- Multi-agent orchestration & value mapping framework