Survey: 78% of corporate clients want AI-enabled service

Corporate clients are starting to judge professional service providers on more than expertise alone. A LinkedIn post citing Thomson Reuters’ 2026 research says 78% of corporate clients view AI-enabled improvements from their providers as very important or essential. Yet only 6% said most or all of their providers were delivering those improvements. That is a clear gap between what clients want and what many firms currently provide. The original post points to faster turnaround, smarter processes and better service as the expectation.

For lawyers, accountants, consultants and other service businesses, this doesn’t mean replacing expert judgement with AI. Clients still pay for trust, context and accountability. But they may increasingly expect the work around that judgement to move faster. Think research preparation, first drafts, document handling, internal knowledge retrieval and repeatable client processes.

There’s a commercial point here too. If clients see AI-enabled delivery as important, then AI operations can become part of how you package and explain your service, not just an internal efficiency project. The firm that can show where AI improves speed and process, while keeping humans responsible for the final advice, has a more credible position than one simply claiming it uses AI.

This is the kind of thing we build into an AI command centre, giving leaders visibility over where AI supports delivery without losing oversight.