Building Unity Advisory, a disruptive, AI-enabled consulting firm
The Future of the Firm
Marissa Thomas, CEO and Co-founder of Unity Advisory, joined Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source, on the latest episode of our The Future of the Firm podcast to discuss the learnings and challenges of combining deep expertise with AI-enabled delivery to create a new advisory firm that’s fit for the modern market. Marissa shared her insights on the following matters and more: How co-founders Thomas and Steve Varley saw a disruptive opportunity from three angles—AI and other exciting technologies, what...
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The professional services rebrand journey
The Future of the Firm
In this episode of the Business Leader's Voice podcast, Antonia Wade, Global Chief Marketing Officer for PwC, joins our Head of Content, Emma Carroll, to share her experience of PwC’s recent rebrand. Antonia shares insights on these matters and more: Rather than focusing solely on demand generation, it is important that firms strategically invest at the broader brand level to increase awareness, perception, and consideration, especially as modern business requires reaching a broader set of C-suite executives than before. Define distinctiveness through how work...
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The Top Challenge for Legal CMOs: Building a Next Generation Growth Engine
The Future of the Firm
In this episode of the Future of the Firm podcast, Emma Carroll, our Head of Content, speaks to Karen Morton, the Chief Marketing Officer of Cleary Gottlieb and President of LMA Europe. They discuss the newly launched report, produced in a collaboration between Source and the Legal Marketing Association Europe, that examines The Top Challenge for Legal CMOs: Building a Next Generation Growth Engine. Karen and Emma shared their insights on these matters and more: Revenue generation is a core part of the CMO’s role, and 67% of those surveyed say it is set to become even...
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How to talk to your clients about value
The Future of the Firm
In this episode of the Future of the Firm podcast, Emma Carroll, our Head of Content, interviews experts from across Source to unpack what “value” really means in consulting today. Drawing on our Emerging Trends Report and our latest research, we explore the persistent gap between quality and value—and what firms can do to close it. We discussed the following matters and more: According to our research, 79% of clients rate consulting quality highly, but only 49% believe they get enough value over and above what they pay in fees. Our experts offer some advice on...
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What do firms need to know about how clients perceive them in 2025?
The Future of the Firm
On our latest episode of The Future of the Firm podcast, Sophie Gunn, Senior Consultant at Source, caught up with Emma Carroll, our Head of Content, to debate some of the most important findings from our Client Perceptions programme so far in 2025. They then discuss how firms can use this information to gain competitive advantage. Sophie shared her insights on the following matters and more: Based on surveys of nearly 4,000 senior buyers, sector expertise and subject matter experts have been the top differentiators for consulting services in recent years. Sophie also...
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How volatility is shaping client futures, and what that means for firms
The Future of the Firm
On our latest episode of The Future of the Firm podcast, Fiona Czerniawska, CEO of Source, caught up with Emma Carroll, our Head of Content, to discuss how the volatile environment is shaping client futures, and what that means for firms’ scenario planning. Fiona shared her insights on the following matters and more: Using Source’s proprietary data, clients (and by extension firms) have been categorised into three groups: undecided, frightened, and determined. These are defined by their approach to strategy and investment in an unpredictable market. ...
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What do clients want from growth and CX work in a volatile market?
The Future of the Firm
On our latest episode of The Future of the Firm podcast, Ben Tye, CEO of Gate One Consulting, caught up with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source, to discuss what clients want from growth and CX work today. Ben shared his insights on the following matters and more: While clients rarely begin by stating "we need to grow our business", this desire for growth is behind many of the challenges they raise, such as CRM system issues or new product launch hurdles. It is therefore crucial for consultants to link these discrete problems back to the ultimate business outcome...
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Why ESG integrity is at a crossroads
The Future of the Firm
In the latest episode of The Future of the Firm podcast, Dr. Katharina Weghmann, Global ESG Leader within Forensic & Integrity Services at EY, and Nick Jones, Director of Client & Markets Engagement also within Forensic & Integrity Services at EY, sat down with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source to discuss why ESG integrity is at a crossroads. Nick and Katharina shared their insights on the following matters and more: Many organisations face challenges in clearly defining industry-relevant ESG targets and translating them into actionable initiatives....
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The future of AI consulting
The Future of the Firm
On our latest episode of The Future of the Firm podcast, Dr Jan van de Poll, MD and Founder of Praioritize, caught up with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source. Jan and Emma shared their insights on the following matters and more: According to Source’s latest quarterly client survey, 98% of consulting buyers believe that generative AI will replace consultants to some extent, with 55% expecting it to do so to a significant degree Virtual consulting is challenging the established consulting model: Jan argues that while traditional consultants...
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A transformed approach to audit
The Future of the Firm
Sebastian Stoeckle, Global Head of Audit Innovation at KPMG, caught up with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source, on the latest episode of our The Future of the Firm podcast. Sebastian and Emma shared their insights on the following matters and more: Audit today is as important as it’s always been, with its core mission still centred around generating trust in business entities. But the environment in which audit operates is transforming as a result of geopolitical, regulatory, and technological change. There has been a shift in clients’...
info_outlineKapish Vanvaria, EY Global and Americas Risk Consulting Leader, caught up with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source, on the latest episode of our The Future of the Firm podcast.
Kapish shared his insights on the following matters and more:
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There have been some big changes in risk services in recent years, including technology innovation, the impact of regulatory changes, and an evolution of client expectations—in particular, clients wanting more sector-specific and personalised solutions.
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The sweet spot for risk experts lies in offering strong domain expertise—for instance, top tier talent in regulatory compliance—and marrying that up with deep sector knowledge, while supporting this with insights from other industries as well.
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To really solve business problems for clients, it often involves more than just consulting. Audit, legal, industry experts, and technology experts all need to have a seat at the table, and firms should look at creating shared KPIs to encourage this collaboration.
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When bringing solutions to clients, firms should be using themselves as client zero, and working on the concept of ‘proof, not promises’. Testing solutions within the firm itself and showing its successes brings credibility to the offering.
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When choosing which firms to shortlist, clients are most concerned about expertise, but an ability to implement is close behind. Firms can translate their expertise into implementation by never being afraid to fail and by going through the iterative process of finding what doesn’t work to lead you to what does.
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Firms are starting to supplement their workforce with digital FTEs. Beyond improving quality and reducing costs, this also allows work for be carried out more quickly. People become reviewers rather than doers and have more time to thrive as individuals.
If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Francine Bennett, Board Member at the Ada Lovelace Institute, about solving business problems with AI.