Professional service firms look to GenAI for improved productivity, report finds

The findings, as part of Deltek’s ‘Adopting Emerging Tech: How to Streamline Project Management and Boost Productivity with Generative AI’ guide, show that organisations are prioritising AI implementation to overcome these challenges and drive growth and profitability. 

Deltek found that almost a third (30 per cent) of firms believe that failing to make significant digital transformation progress will result in the loss of market share within 12-months, and that overcoming any barriers to adoption must be done so quickly.

The report found the main challenges to adoption include: the cost of technology (54 per cent), prioritising which technologies are most applicable to the business (50 per cent), and a lack of employee education about trends and how they apply to their industry (30 per cent), according to respondents.

Investing in and implementing AI is seen as a competitive advantage (74 per cent), alongside giving businesses the ability to expand the services they can deliver to the market (74 per cent). 72 per cent of respondents believe that AI will improve their staff’s job satisfaction and 41 per cent believe successful implementation will increase profits.

In a statement, Bret Tushaus, vice president of Product Management at Deltek, said: “Project management challenges have been further compounded by ongoing global socioeconomic disruption, placing greater pressure on firms to optimise cost and reduce resources to stay profitable while meeting customer demand. It's like trying to keep a household running smoothly during tough times, making sure all needs are met while tightening the budget.

“Investing in project enterprise resource planning (ERP) as a backbone will provide insight into business metrics, optimisation of processes, and support the productivity gains needed to help firms ensure they stay on-track and demonstrate success confidently to key stakeholders.”

Deltek’s new guide, ‘Adopting Emerging Tech: How to Streamline Project Management and Boost Productivity with Generative AI’, leveraged findings from the Clarity Trends and Insights for Architecture, Engineering and Consulting Firms report, to help project-based businesses overcome challenges and unlock the opportunities. 

The full report can be downloaded and read in full here.