The AI is already here. The advantage is in how you use it.
A practical guide to the AI already available, and how advice, accountancy and law firms can use it directly and safely, without paying for a wrapper.
Last reviewed June 2026
60%
of UK advice professionals now use AI tools, more than double the 29% recorded a year earlier. The same shift is under way in accountancy and law.
Source: the lang cat, State of the Advice Nation 2025/26
Start with the AI everyone already has
Most AI products sold to firms are built on the same handful of general models. With the right prompts, workflows and a little training, your team can do much of that work directly, keep control of client data and avoid paying a premium for a wrapper.
OpenAI
ChatGPT
The strongest all-rounder for writing, research and everyday tasks. A sensible first tool for most people in the firm.
Best for: Drafting, brainstorming, plain-English explanations
Anthropic
Claude
Excels at reading and summarising long PDFs and documents. Its compliance posture has made it a common choice in financial institutions.
Best for: Long documents, careful analysis, summaries
Microsoft 365
Microsoft Copilot
Sits inside Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams. It draws on both Claude and ChatGPT, so it is often the easiest way to start.
Best for: Email, documents and spreadsheets in place
Gemini
Built into Google Workspace, with strong handling of long context. A natural fit for firms running on Gmail and Google Docs.
Best for: Google Workspace users, large inputs
NotebookLM
Answers questions only from the files you give it, with citations back to the source. Useful when you want grounded answers, not guesses.
Best for: Querying your own documents safely
Perplexity AI
Perplexity
A research assistant that answers with linked sources, so you can check where each claim came from before relying on it.
Best for: Quick research with references
How your firm can use it
Pick your profession to see the everyday jobs this AI can take on. Each is a first draft or a head start for a qualified person to check, not a replacement for professional judgement.
From the first enquiry to the annual review, much of an adviser's day is reading, writing and explaining. That is exactly where general AI helps most.
Client emails and follow-ups
Draft clear emails, review invitations and follow-up notes in your own tone.
Summarise provider documents
Turn long policy literature and product brochures into a short brief in minutes.
Meeting notes to actions
Convert your notes into a clean summary with next steps for the file.
First-draft report narrative
A starting draft of suitability wording for you to refine, check and sign off.
Explain it in plain English
Rewrite complex products and tax points into language clients understand.
Marketing and newsletters
Draft blog posts, newsletters and social content to keep your firm visible.
Accountancy bodies including ICAEW now publish guidance on using these tools. Common uses run from working papers to forecasting, with a person reviewing every output.
Working-paper narratives
Draft the narrative around your figures and accounting policy explanations.
Query and response letters
First drafts of audit query letters and client correspondence.
Standards and legislation
A plain summary of a reporting standard or piece of guidance to start from.
Spreadsheets and forecasts
Build and troubleshoot Excel formulas, budgets and forecasting models faster.
Summarise long documents
Condense board papers, contracts and accounts into a brief you can act on.
Client guidance
Draft clear notes on deadlines, tax points and what a client needs to do next.
Highest care needed. General AI can speed up drafting and summarising, but it can be confidently wrong and defaults to US law. Treat every output as an unchecked draft, and never put client data into a public tool without the right safeguards.
First-draft correspondence
Routine letters and client updates for a fee earner to review and finalise.
Summarise documents and bundles
A quick read on long contracts and bundles, then verify against the source.
Explain matters plainly
Translate complex points into plain English for client-facing material.
Structure and outline
Build outlines, checklists and argument structures to draft against.
Compare versions
Spot differences between drafts and pull out the clauses that need attention.
Always verify and supervise
Check every citation and fact. You remain accountable to the SRA for the output.
Use it well, and use it safely
In a regulated firm, the question is no longer whether staff use AI, but whether they use it safely and consistently. These are the ground rules we teach.
59%
of UK fee earners admit using unapproved AI tools for client work, and a 2026 tribunal ruling confirmed that doing so can waive legal privilege. A firm-wide approach protects you better than a quiet ban that nobody follows.
Protect client confidentiality
Don't paste identifiable client data into free or public tools. Use accounts with proper confidentiality and data-protection terms, with data held in the UK or EEA.
Always verify the output
These models can produce confident, wrong answers and often default to US terms. AI drafts; a qualified person checks and decides.
Stay accountable
Your firm owns every output and remains responsible to the SRA, ICAEW or FCA. The tool assists; it is never the adviser of record.
Use the right tier
Choose business or enterprise settings that don't train on your inputs, and write a simple firm policy so everyone works the same way.
Build the skill, not a subscription pile
Join 8MDs free for the training and ready-made Workspace templates that help your firm use AI directly, confidently and within the rules.