Incremental Change in a World of Tidal Forces: AI and the Professional Services Firm

Incremental Change in a World of Tidal Forces: AI and the Professional Services Firm

Artificial intelligence is everywhere right now. Depending on who you listen to, it is either the greatest productivity unlock of our lifetime or an existential threat to professional services.

What strikes me is not the magnitude of the change—but the way many firms misunderstand how meaningful change actually happens.

AI is unquestionably world-altering. It will reshape workflows, leverage models, pricing, and client expectations across professional services. But despite the headlines, this transformation is not occurring through sudden, binary shifts. It is unfolding through incremental, intentional exploration by firms willing to move without certainty.

That distinction matters. Because the firms that keep moving—even slowly—will find themselves on higher ground as the tidal forces arrive. Those that wait for clarity or perfection may find themselves swept out to sea.

The Resistance Isn’t Really About AI

Most resistance to AI adoption is framed as skepticism about the technology. In practice, the hesitation runs deeper.

Professional services firms wrestle with questions like:

• What happens to my value if machines can assist with my work?
• How will clients perceive AI-enabled delivery?
• Where do I even start when there are so many tools?
• How do I experiment without breaking what already works?

Layer on founder bottlenecks, imperfect processes, and information overload, and inertia becomes understandable—even rational.

But understandable does not mean safe.

Too often, firms treat AI as a binary choice: either fully embrace it or avoid it entirely. That framing is false—and dangerous.

Incremental Change Has Always Been the Model

This is where the Collective 54 framework offers clarity.

In The Boutique, Greg Alexander emphasizes focus, specialization, and repeatability as the foundation of a durable professional services firm. In The Founder Bottleneck, he highlights how growth stalls when too much depends on the founder’s direct involvement.

Neither book argues for radical, overnight transformation. Both advocate intentional evolution: refining positioning, building repeatable IP, and creating systems that reduce friction and reliance on any single individual.

AI fits naturally into that methodology.

It is not a substitute for expertise or judgment. When applied thoughtfully, it reduces low-value effort, improves consistency, and creates leverage—allowing founders and senior professionals to spend more time where they add the most value.

AI is not a departure from the Collective 54 playbook. It is simply the next set of tools available to firms already committed to building better businesses.

A Personal Moment of Discomfort

I recently attended Collective 54’s first formal quarterly retreat focused on technology adoption. I arrived intimidated and underprepared.

As an Era 2 member, I know I do not have all the answers. I also recognize the limits of my ability—or desire—to flip a switch and run a fully AI-native firm.

But I showed up willing to explore.

I didn’t leave with a finished roadmap or a perfect tech stack. I left with something more valuable: clarity. I better understand what technology can do for my business, where it can reduce friction, and how it can support—not replace—judgment.

I also left with a list of next steps. Incremental ones. Intentional ones.

That, to me, is progress.

Marching Toward Higher Ground

Very few professional services firms can adopt AI all at once. Fewer still should try.

But every firm can:

• Experiment with narrow, low-risk use cases
• Improve internal workflows
• Reduce manual effort that adds little value
• Create space for better thinking and better client conversations

This is not about chasing trends. It is about staying in motion.

Tidal forces do not arrive politely. By the time the surge is obvious, reaction is no longer an option. Firms that endure are not the ones that predict the future perfectly—they are the ones that keep moving toward higher ground as conditions change.

AI is one of those conditions.

You do not need certainty to begin. You need curiosity, discipline, and a willingness to take the next step—even when the full path is unclear. That mindset has always separated durable professional services firms from fragile ones.

The tools may be new. The principle is not.

A Note to Era 1 Founders—and Those on the Fence

If you are an Era 1 founder, or someone considering Collective 54 from the outside, I will offer this perspective: you do not need to have AI figured out to belong here.

You need to be willing to explore.

Collective 54 has always been about method, not hype; progress, not perfection. The same mindset that helps founders break through bottlenecks and build focused boutiques applies just as well to navigating technological change.

You do not have to flip a switch. You do not have to go it alone. You simply have to keep moving.

And doing that alongside peers who are asking the same hard questions may be the most valuable step of all.