Home / The New Model
The New Model of Professional Advice
What your firm looks like in five years, why, and six moves to get there.
There's a version written for your profession, with its own examples and checklists. Read your version
Where is your firm on the route?
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The new model, five years out
This is your firm in 2031.
Five years is probably the longest it will take. By then AI does almost all of the work. The firms still standing own that AI and keep their clients close.
Illustration of a new-model firm. Names and figures are made up.
See it for your profession
Showing an IFA and wealth firm
Showing a mortgage and protection firm
Showing an accountancy practice
Showing a law firm
A Tuesday at the firm
Done by the AI, checked by you
Done by you
06:00
Overnight
The post and the inbox read, filed, and routine replies drafted.
23 drafts ready
08:30
Meeting prep
Today's client meetings prepared: files summarised, questions listed.
4 of 4 ready
10:00
Client meeting
Notes taken by the AI. The follow-up letter is drafted before the client leaves.
Follow-up letter
Approve
Edit
14:00
Research
A morning's research done in ten minutes, with sources for you to check.
Checked by you
16:00
The hard conversation
Face to face, person to person. Nothing about it is automated.
You
06:00
Portfolios
Every client portfolio checked overnight against its agreed risk level.
4 have drifted
08:30
Review packs
This week's review packs pulled together from the platforms.
11 of 11 ready
10:00
Mr and Mrs Okafor
Notes taken in the meeting. The suitability letter is drafted before they reach the car park.
Suitability letter
Approve
Edit
14:00
Client email
"Should I take my tax-free cash this year?" A reply drafted with her own numbers.
Reply to Mrs Shah
Approve
Edit
16:00
An hour on the phone
With a client whose husband died last month. Nothing about that call is automated.
You
06:00
Rate expiries
Every fixed rate ending in the next six months, with a comparison drafted for each.
18 comparisons
08:30
New enquiries
Fact-finds started, documents requested and affordability run overnight.
3 of 3 started
11:00
Protection review
A couple's cover hasn't kept up with their new mortgage.
Cover gap found
14:00
The awkward case
Self-employed and declined twice. Two lenders whose criteria fit, with notes written for the underwriter.
2 lenders fit
16:00
A claim
A family making a critical illness claim. Sitting with them is your job.
You
06:00
Bank feeds
Every client's bank feed reconciled overnight, each query with its best guess.
7 to check
08:30
Making Tax Digital
This quarter's updates prepared for every client. You review the ones it flagged.
140 of 140 ready
11:00
Cash-flow warning
A VAT bill a client can't cover in March, spotted last week.
Call them today
13:00
New client
Signed up at lunchtime. Engagement letter, ID checks and HMRC authorisation all done.
Onboarded
15:00
Selling the business
Two hours with a client deciding whether to sell. That's what they pay you for now.
You
06:00
Searches
Searches on three purchases read overnight.
1 flood risk
08:30
Lease review
A retail lease checked against the firm's own standards.
4 clauses for you
10:00
Client updates
Every conveyancing client updated without having to chase.
26 updates sent
13:00
Will draft
Mrs Hughes's will, drafted from yesterday's meeting notes.
Ready to check
Approve
Edit
15:00
A family meeting
A family whose mother has lost capacity. The judgement and the care are yours.
You
You
Own the firm, the relationships and the hard calls
Research
First drafts
Data entry
Monitoring
Compliance records
Client updates
Research
Review packs
Suitability letters
Portfolio monitoring
Compliance records
Client updates
Sourcing
Fact-finds
Applications
Rate expiry alerts
Compliance records
Case updates
Bookkeeping
Reconciliation
MTD and VAT
Year-end drafts
Cash-flow alerts
Onboarding
Legal research
Document review
First drafts
Searches
Key dates
Client updates
Inside the new-model firm
The AI does the firm's production work: the research, the drafting, the checking and the chasing. The people who own the firm do the part that needs a person: the relationships, the judgement on hard cases, and putting their name to the result.
Fewer people on routine work
Most of the day spent with clients
Fees set by the outcome
Your firm against the new arrivals
Hardly a week passes without a large company launching AI built for advice, accounting or legal work. Here's how the three compare.
Your firm today
New AI services
The new-model firm
Speed
Answers in seconds, at any hour, for any number of clients.
Your firm today
New AI services
The new-model firm
Low cost to the client
A subscription, where firms charge by the hour or the percentage.
Your firm today
New AI services
The new-model firm
Free of old habits and systems
No legacy software and no "we've always done it this way".
Your firm today
New AI services
The new-model firm
Client relationships
People want someone they know when it's their money, business or family.
Your firm today
New AI services
The new-model firm
Already in the market
Clients, records, a regulated name and years of history.
Your firm today
New AI services
The new-model firm
Our view of where things are heading, not measured scores.
The sum your clients will do
Professional fees were built on expertise being scarce. When an AI that knows more than any one professional costs less than a phone contract, clients will ask what they're paying a firm for.
A firm that tries to out-know the AI will lose. A firm that runs its work through AI keeps the two things a newcomer can't buy, its clients and their trust, and loses most of its costs.
For most clients in middle England, paying an adviser a percentage made sense while expertise was scarce. When an AI that knows more about investing than any one adviser costs about £20 a month, that sum changes. For many clients it is changing now, this year or next.
An adviser who keeps trying to out-know the AI on where the money should go will lose that argument. The firms that last put the AI to work inside the practice and keep what clients still want from a person.
Sourcing, comparing rates and packaging an application are exactly what AI does best, and lenders and comparison sites are building it in. A straightforward remortgage will soon need no adviser at all.
Clients will still want someone for the awkward case and for the cover that has to pay out when it matters. The firms that last let AI handle the volume and keep those moments for themselves.
Bookkeeping, returns and year-end accounts were worth a fee because they took skilled hours. Software now does most of that in minutes, and Making Tax Digital is moving every client onto it.
The practices that last let AI do the compliance work and sell what the numbers mean: the forecast, the warning before the problem, the advice on what to do next.
Clients have paid for research, first drafts and document review because they took qualified time. AI now does a first pass of each in minutes, and clients and their insurers will expect the bill to show it.
The firms that last run that work through AI, price by the matter rather than the hour, and keep what a client needs a solicitor for: judgement, advocacy and someone accountable.
Six principles. What every new-model firm has in common.
1
AI capability in-house
The firm understands AI properly, uses it every day and can deploy it for clients. It doesn't buy AI as a black box it can't question. Every professional is trained, the firm has written rules for safe use, and a named lead keeps the firm's skills current as the tools improve.
2
Own your digital offering
The firm builds and owns its client-facing AI: assistants, tools and portals under its own name, built on its own knowledge. Clients get useful help between meetings from something that belongs to the firm, and every question that needs advice comes straight back to a professional.
3
Human relationship, AI legwork
Clients still want a person for the big decisions, and that is likely to hold for years. AI does all or most of the research, admin and drafting inside a checked process. The professional leads the relationship, applies judgement and stands behind the advice.
4
Coach clients through their own transition
Clients face the same upheaval in their jobs, businesses, tax and legal affairs. Helping them adapt becomes part of the service and part of the professional duty. The firm shares what it has learnt from its own change and brings in other professions when a client's situation needs them.
5
Reprice and scale
Fees stop depending on hours worked or a percentage of assets. Subscription and fixed-price services, with clear inclusions, price what the client actually receives. With AI doing the legwork, each professional can serve many more clients well, including people the firm couldn't serve profitably before.
6
Be the expert AI recommends
The firm's public presence is written so that AI assistants, answer engines and AI agents acting for clients can find it, understand it and recommend it. That means specific answers to real client questions, named experts, clearly stated services and prices, and referral links with other professions.
Today, and the new model. Side by side for your profession.
Area
Today
The new model
How you charge
By the hour or as a percentage of assets
Subscriptions and fixed prices for clearly defined services
Who does the legwork
Professionals and support staff, largely by hand
AI does the first pass; professionals check it and sign off
Where AI skill sits
With a few enthusiasts using free tools
Across the whole team, with written rules and a named lead
Between meetings
Emails, newsletters and the occasional phone call
The firm's own assistant, tools and client hub
How clients find you
Referrals, word of mouth and search engines
AI assistants recommend you, alongside referrals from other professions
What clients get help with
The immediate technical question they brought
That question, plus how AI is changing their work and plans
Client numbers
Capped by the hours in each professional's week
Many more per professional, with no thinning of the service
Area
Today
The new model
How you charge
A percentage of assets under management
Published subscriptions or fixed fees for a defined service
Investment process
Research, spreadsheets and model portfolios run by hand
AI monitors and drafts; the adviser checks and stands behind it
Where adviser time goes
Preparation, file notes and paperwork around each meeting
Goals, behaviour and life decisions with clients
Client tools
Articles, newsletters and generic calculators
The firm's own assistant, video and household hub
Between reviews
Little contact until the next annual meeting
Clients use the firm's tools; the firm sees who needs it
How clients find you
Referrals and search listings
Recommended by AI assistants and professional referral partners
Clients per adviser
Capped by the paperwork hours each client needs
More households per adviser, including those with smaller portfolios
Area
Today
The new model
How you charge
Procuration fees and commission per case, sometimes a client fee
Clear case fees plus, where it fits, a disclosed ongoing review service
Where adviser time goes
Fact-finds, sourcing, lender forms and chasing paperwork
Conversations, judgement calls and checking what AI has prepared
Research and sourcing
Adviser searches sourcing systems and lender criteria case by case
AI shortlists options against criteria; the adviser tests and decides
The suitability file
Written up after the event, often in a hurry
An evidence pack drafted as the case runs, checked by the adviser
Client contact
Busy at application, then quiet until the deal expires
Always-on reviews triggered by rates, expiry dates and life events
Client tools
Generic calculators and lender links on the website
The firm's own assistant and client portal, under its own name
How clients find you
Referrals from estate agents, past clients and search engines
Referrals plus AI assistants that can find, understand and recommend you
Area
Today
The new model
What clients buy
Year-end accounts and returns, delivered after the event
A forward view of their business, tax and cash, all year round
How you charge
Per job or per hour, often agreed after the work
Tiered monthly subscriptions with the scope written down
Who does the processing
Staff key, code and reconcile transactions by hand
AI processes and flags; people review exceptions and sign off
How you look at tax
Calculated once the year has closed
Projected years ahead, with a checklist of actions to reduce it
Your role in the client's AI adoption
Not part of the engagement
Readiness reviews, costed business cases and AI-era planning
What your signature covers
Accounts and returns your team prepared
Also figures the client's own AI tools produced
Where new clients come from
Referrals, local reputation and a brochure website
Referrals plus AI assistants that can find, understand and recommend you
Area
Today
The new model
How you charge
Hourly rates, with fixed fees for a few routine matters
Fixed fees and subscriptions, with clear published prices
Who drafts
Trainees and associates draft from precedents over several hours
AI drafts in minutes; a solicitor checks, corrects and signs
What the client brings
Instructions and a folder of papers
A document AI has drafted, and the question: is this right?
When clients call
When a problem has already turned into a dispute
Earlier, prompted by monitoring and an annual legal health check
Life events
Each professional handles their own part, often separately
Solicitor, adviser and accountant work as one team, with consent
How clients find you
Referrals, local reputation and directory listings
Referrals, plus AI assistants that understand and recommend you
What sets you apart
Legal knowledge and years of experience
Accountability: regulated, insured and willing to put your name to it
Each profession has its own version of the model, with all six moves written for that profession.
The six moves
In the order a firm can actually do them. Each move has a guide, a checklist, a realistic timescale and the training that goes with it, written for each profession. Coaching clients through their own transition runs through every move from the third onwards.
Take the two-minute check →1
Take stock
2 weeks
Show
Spend two weeks mapping every service and fee against what AI can already do, and score the firm honestly on the six principles.
- Export last year's fee income by service
- Rate each service line for AI exposure
- Score the firm on the six principles
For your profession: IFA and wealth · Mortgage and protection · Accountants · Solicitors
2
Build AI capability
1 to 2 months (overlaps Move 3)
Show
Train the whole team, set clear rules for safe use and name someone to lead, so AI becomes a daily working skill across the firm.
- Enrol everyone who touches client work
- Write a two-page AI use policy
- Pay for business accounts on approved tools
For your profession: IFA and wealth · Mortgage and protection · Accountants · Solicitors
3
Hand over the legwork
2 to 3 months
Show
Move research, admin, file notes and first drafts to AI inside a checked process, so professionals spend their time on clients and judgement.
- Pick three high-volume tasks from your Move 1 map
- Write a one-page procedure for each task
- Run each procedure for four weeks on live work
For your profession: IFA and wealth · Mortgage and protection · Accountants · Solicitors
4
Build your own digital offering
3 to 6 months
Show
Put client-facing assistants, tools and portals under the firm's own name, so clients get help between meetings and the relationship stays with you.
- Choose one client problem to solve first
- Decide whether to build, commission or white-label
- Write the boundaries before the tool
For your profession: IFA and wealth · Mortgage and protection · Accountants · Solicitors
5
Reprice and scale
1 to 2 quarters
Show
Move fees away from hours and assets towards subscriptions and fixed prices, so each professional can serve more clients at a fair price.
- Use your Move 3 timings to cost each service
- Design two or three tiers
- Test the prices with existing clients first
For your profession: IFA and wealth · Mortgage and protection · Accountants · Solicitors
6
Become the firm AI recommends
Ongoing, starts in month 3
Show
Rewrite your public presence so AI assistants, answer engines and AI agents acting for clients can find you, understand what you do and recommend you.
- Ask the assistants about yourselves
- Write one page per real client question
- Publish your services, prices and people clearly
For your profession: IFA and wealth · Mortgage and protection · Accountants · Solicitors
Why now. The case, from our analysis.
Analysis · 15 Apr 2026
The vanishing exit
Why valuations built on recurring fees are less secure than owners assume, and what that means for how a firm is priced.
Analysis · 15 Apr 2026
The gathering storm
How the stable band of households that advice has relied on is changing, and why the traditional model is under structural pressure.
Analysis · 1 May 2026
The jobs that will not come back this time
Why this change in work differs from earlier waves of technology, and which parts of professional work it reaches first.
Versions and changes
The New Model is updated as practice changes. Every change is listed here, with its date.
Version 1.0
30 Sep 2026
Rebuilt around six principles and six moves from Matt's brief, with versions for IFA and wealth, mortgage and protection, accountants and solicitors.
Next
Planned
Worked examples from member firms for each move.