Big Four firms face “challenges” in adopting artificial intelligence, said EY’s former UK boss Hywel Ball, as he announced plans to take up board roles at two AI-focused boutiques.
A number of boutique professional services start-ups have an edge by being able to build AI into their work unhampered, he said. “There is a patch in the middle” between being nimble and having “enough critical mass to give you the momentum”, creating opportunities for mid-sized firms, Ball added.
“If you’re really big there are lots of challenges about driving that extent of cultural change,” Ball said. “The Big Four are spending a lot of money on AI, and they’ve got the resources and investment to do it, but they’ll have their own challenges for adoption, because they’re so big.”