SSagaby INSTRAT360Explore Saga
Shared from Saga · AI signal
Operating modelRelevance · medium2026-08-01
RSM US·6 min read

RSM survey: almost all AI pilots in professional services report success, but focus is shifting to practical use

Professional ServicesFinancial Services

RSM’s Middle Market AI Survey 2026 finds that nearly all professional services firms surveyed have launched AI pilots in the last two years, with 98% rating them highly or moderately successful. The insight notes a shift from experimentation toward pragmatic, workflow‑level applications—especially in areas like document review, analysis, and agentic process support—while highlighting ongoing challenges around governance, talent, and scaling beyond pilots.

Why it matters for leaders
This indicates that AI experimentation is now baseline in your sector; the competitive edge lies in operationalizing AI across the firm and building team capability, not in running more pilots. It also underscores that mid‑market peers are beginning to solve for day‑to‑day use, which will raise client expectations across the board.
Opportunity signal

You can treat pilot success rates as permission to move faster into scaled adoption—standardizing AI‑enhanced workflows, building training paths for associates and managers, and creating internal accreditation for AI‑enabled practitioners.

medium
Risk signal

If your firm remains stuck in perpetual pilot mode without clear standards, governance, and role expectations, you risk fragmented tool use, inconsistent client quality, and difficulty demonstrating control to regulators and enterprise clients.

medium
Read the original source
The weekly signal

A visual weekly digest of the AI moves that matter

Curated signals, trends, and what they mean for leaders — one considered email a week. No noise.

Double opt-in. One-click unsubscribe in every email. We never share your address.

Where leaders make sense of AI

See the full picture inside Saga

This is one signal. Saga curates the AI developments that matter for your business, translates them into decisions, and takes you into a real-time strategy room — with a free, board-ready AI Leadership Report to start.

Explore Saga freeRead more signals