Professional services stories

Founders should treat lawyers less like transactional advisers and more like long-term partners who can shape confidence, reduce friction and support growth.

CrowdStrike unveils AI security coalition with Accenture, EY, IBM Cybersecurity Services, Kroll and OpenAI to spot and fix code flaws faster.

Cognizant deepens Google Cloud tie-up with embedded engineers, new Marketplace offers and a North American telecoms AI win.

Deloitte and Payslip say tighter EU pay rules are driving multinationals towards centralised payroll systems, with 1.3 million payslips now automated annually.

Quantium joins Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise push with a new AI practice aimed at moving enterprise agents from pilots into production.

KPMG deepens Google Cloud tie-up with AI agents for regulated sectors, including a Cardinal Health finance tool to tackle pricing disputes.

Storm Technology names Conor Flanagan to lead Dynamics 365 Business Central push as it expands finance, reporting and AI-focused services.

Luminance and LexisNexis have struck a tie-up to embed citation-backed legal research inside contract review, aiming to cut switch-hopping for in-house lawyers.

Cognizant named inaugural OpenAI Codex partner as it embeds the coding tool across engineering work for clients and internal software delivery.

Litera brings AI redlining and document comparison to Google Drive and Docs, giving lawyers a new way to review contracts inside Workspace.

Sage and PwC have launched AI-driven tools to speed Sage Intacct deployment and help accounting firms automate advisory work.

Intuit's QuickBooks is under pressure as AI start-ups push automated bookkeeping, forcing accounting software to prove it can do more than digitise ledgers.

Xero unveils AI-native finance platform and JAX assistant to cut admin for small firms, with accountants and bookkeepers also in line for gains.

Emergent's Wingman puts autonomous AI agents to work across email, calendars and chats, with human approval for higher-risk actions.

StructureFlow expands its AI platform to turn PDFs, diagrams and spreadsheets into editable legal and financial models for deal teams.

Teamwork.com warns AI is fuelling fee pressure as clients push for faster, cheaper expert work and more projects brought in-house.

ReliaQuest says suspected former Black Basta operators are bombarding staff with emails and posing as IT support in Microsoft Teams to reach senior executives.

Elite rolls out AI-powered Validate checks to catch questionable legal billing before invoices go out, aiming to cut write-offs and speed payment.

Auctor secures USD $20 million from Sequoia Capital and backers to automate enterprise software rollouts and cut costly project delays.

Dayshape, selected for Microsoft’s Agentic Launchpad, will let professional services firms query staffing, skills and project finances in Teams.