Case studies of Humans + AI professional services, AI fluency, benchmarks for sycophany, and more

June 09, 2025

“We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.” — Carl Sagan

How professional service firms will transform to Humans + AI

My first book and much of my work for over two decades has been on the future of professional services. Generative AI is dramatically accelerating the change. Today all professional services must shift to Humans + AI models, impacting not just service delivery, but also client relationships, fee structures, business models, and more.

My report 10 Case Studies: Humans + AI in Professional Service Firms shares specific insights from leading firms on that journey.

Be well!

Ross

 

📖In this issue

  • Report: 10 Case Studies: Humans + AI in Professional Service Firms

  • How Zapier assesses and hires for AI fluency

  • Benchmarks for AI sycophany

  • Where the biggest opportunities lie for AI augmentation

  • Podcast: Minyang Jiang on AI augmentation, transcending constraints, fostering creativity, and the levers of AI strategy

💡Report: 10 Case Studies: Humans + AI in Professional Service Firms 

All professional services will become Humans + AI, where human expertise and relationships are complemented and augmented by AI.

I have compiled 10 leading case studies of how established and new professional service firms are implementing Humans + AI work and structures

🧠🤖Humans + AI

How Zapier assesses and hires for AI fluency

Zapier CEO Wade Foster shared how they assess AI fluency, saying 100% of new hires need to demonstrate it, and sharing specific questions they ask in interviews to assess AI capabilities.

Benchmarks for AI sycophany

OpenAI GPT-4o’s extreme sycophancy (until corrected) has highlighted the very real dangers of AI pandering to our innate human desire for positive feedback. A new benchmark and research on models shows where the issues lie and which models do best and worst.

Where the biggest opportunities lie for AI augmentation

This chart, included in Mary Meeker’s AI Trends report, analyzes industry sectors to highlight the large fragmented markets, notably professional services, healthcare, and construction, that provide the biggest opportunities for AI-augmentation startups.

🎙️This week’s podcast episode

Minyang Jiang on AI augmentation, transcending constraints, fostering creativity, and the levers of AI strategy  

Why you should listen

MJ brings some wonderful, positive, enabling perspectives to bear on the potential of AI, including some excellent strategic frames and approaches for implementing in the enterprise.

Thanks for reading!

Ross Dawson and team