Seizing the trillion dollar potential with autonomous professional services

In today’s professional services landscape, leaders often face the challenge of having a full pipeline of potential deals but a limited bench of consultants to work on them. This is a common issue due to the traditional model where growth is constrained by the availability of consultants. Despite high market demand, many firms can only capture a small percentage of their potential pipeline because they lack the resources to staff projects quickly.

To address this limitation, a new model called Autonomous Professional Services Automation (PSA) is emerging. This model combines human expertise with a digital workforce managed by a central orchestration engine, allowing firms to capture a significantly higher percentage of demand. Unlike traditional automation, which follows preset rules, Autonomous PSA is goal-oriented and strategic, enabling firms to optimize project outcomes.

Professional services organizations face unique operational challenges compared to product-based businesses. The complexity of managing a workforce of experts working on diverse tasks over time leads to inefficiencies such as conservative bidding, underutilization of resources, and reactive staffing. These challenges result in a significant opportunity cost for the global services economy.

The key to implementing Autonomous PSA lies in integrating AI agents into service delivery operations. Salesforce is uniquely positioned to facilitate this integration through its platform, Agentforce AI engine, and Salesforce-native Professional Services Automation software. By leveraging these technologies, organizations can create a unified platform that optimizes project outcomes from sales to delivery.

The orchestration engine at the core of Autonomous PSA acts as a control tower for managing a hybrid human-AI agent workforce. By pairing consultants with digital agents in real-time based on skills, availability, and project needs, organizations can achieve higher pipeline capture rates, improved margins, and accelerated project timelines. This transformation does not compromise quality, as human oversight remains a crucial aspect of service delivery.

Preparing for Autonomous PSA requires organizations to re-architect their workforce model, invest in a native orchestration engine, and start small with pilot projects before scaling up. By automating high-friction processes and unifying project, resource, and financial data on a single platform, organizations can lay the foundation for intelligent decision-making.

An analysis of over 2000 global professional services organizations reveals that firms typically capture only a fraction of their pipeline potential. By incorporating digital labor into their operations, organizations can increase their capacity to capture demand significantly. This shift can unlock billions in incremental revenue and drive further gains through faster delivery, lower costs, and access to niche expertise.

Embracing Autonomous PSA presents a unique opportunity for professional services firms to redefine their economics and capture a larger share of the market. By leveraging AI agents and an orchestration engine, organizations can deliver faster outcomes and focus on client success. The era of Autonomous Professional Services has arrived, and organizations must act swiftly to seize this transformative opportunity.

To learn more about how Autonomous PSA can unlock a trillion-dollar market opportunity for professional services, download the white paper “Unlocking a Trillion Dollar Opportunity for Professional Services with Autonomous PSA” by Certinia. This comprehensive framework and analytical model provide insights into preparing for the shift towards autonomous service delivery.

Raju Malhotra, Chief Product & Technology Officer at Certinia, encourages organizations to explore the possibilities of Autonomous PSA and prepare for the future of professional services.

Please note that this article is a sponsored post, produced by Certinia. Sponsored articles are created by companies that have a business relationship with VentureBeat and are clearly marked as such. For more information, contact sales@venturebeat.com.