AI in law firms, tax firms, government and corporate departments is reshaping how professionals achieve their goals. Thomson Reuters’ Future of Professionals Report – Asia and Emerging Markets Edition, examines the insights of 1,000 professionals on these topics and more.
The report explores the impact of emerging technologies on the way professionals work. It charts the experiences of professionals across various industries.
Purpose-built legal AI is a trending area of interest. For many professionals, it holds the promise to optimise the practice of law and tax. Professionals can navigate complex challenges with AI-assisted capabilities to find greater success at work.
AI is rapidly influencing the future of professionals
AI can empower professionals to achieve their goals by enhancing productivity, streamlining workflows, and enabling greater efficiency.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology has been changing workplaces since November 2022. Professionals in different fields believe that large language models (LLMs) will be important for their future of work. Over three in five professionals (64%) say AI will have ‘transformative’ or ‘high impact’ on their profession within the next five years.
Professionals are eagerly anticipating the time liberation potential of generative AI. They want AI to free up time for more strategic work. They are also looking to increase productivity, streamline workflows and achieve greater efficiency. This will ultimately help them to manage their clients better and grow their business.
What are professionals prioritising?
AI holds the key to driving growth across various facets of professional work. It gives professionals new opportunities to innovate and succeed in their work.
As a result, operational enhancements are taking priority across various professions. The report shows that almost half of law firm professionals (48%) are focused on improving internal collaboration. This is also a priority for three in five (60%) of tax and accounting professionals.
Additionally, internal process efficiency is a focus for 46% of law firms and 41% of tax and accounting firms. For in-house departments, digital transformation emerged as a key focus for 47% of corporate legal professionals. These findings are similarly reflected in Thomson Reuters’ Tech & the Law 2023 Report released in August 2023.
How can AI help work get done, faster?
Integrating AI into daily work can help professionals achieve their goals more efficiently. A majority of professionals (70%) expressed a keen interest in leveraging AI to aid work product creation. This shows that many professionals see AI as a way to make tasks easier and reduce administrative work.
Even with modern workplace improvements, professionals still struggle with administrative barriers that prevent higher-level tasks. More than half of those surveyed (51%) want to use AI to reduce administrative tasks.
The Future of Professionals Report – Asia and Emerging Markets Edition underscores how AI offers professionals unprecedented opportunities to innovate and achieve goals.
Encouraging professionals to embrace AI as a strategic ally rather than a threat is key. This approach will help to navigate the challenges while unlocking new avenues in the changing landscape of professional work.
Download the full report: The Future of Professionals – Asia & Emerging Markets Edition.
