The Big Four accounting and consulting firms are looking to stay competitive as artificial intelligence shakes up their industry by pivoting to focus on multi-year contracts meant to reinvent and run corporate back-office suites.
The offering, known as managed services for corporate clients, could generate one-fifth of consulting revenue at some firms within the next few years, according to their own growth goals.
Fees from managed services already drive global revenues at
Firms are navigating a shifting landscape as a broader menu of services demands new pricing structures for how they charge clients. The Big Four also face increasing competition from tech giants, along with other AI vendors, to develop in-demand AI tools and agents for clients.
“Their core business is being disrupted by AI,” said Tom Rodenhauser, managing partner of K2 Consulting Research. “How long do you hold on to the past while you are trying to address the future?”
Consulting is elemental to the Big Four, producing almost half of global revenue for EY, KPMG, and PwC, and nearly two-thirds of Deloitte’s fees worldwide. The firms’ tax and assurance businesses traditionally have brought in the remainder of fees, providing steady but historically smaller incremental revenue growth.
Demand from clients to re-imagine their workflows with AI is fueling the boom in managed services the four firms provide.
Managed services offerings go beyond outsourcing, with firms taking ownership of critical tasks like anti-money laundering compliance for financial institutions or protecting data and IT infrastructure from cyber threats. The firms install new processes for their clients, with fresh technology to automate and streamline the work.
They also bring a growing bench of experienced professionals to handle whatever the AI can’t.
AI Fuels Demand
Managed services contracts spanning multiple years often bundle together offerings that can cut across advisory, tax, and assurance—amplifying the financial impact for the Big Four.
For corporate managers under pressure to weave cutting edge agentic AI throughout the company, the pitch is simple: rely on a portfolio of AI agents the Big Four firms have already built and tested, with a library of new capabilities in the works, rather than recreating similar improvements on their own.
That’s more efficient for both customers and firms, which can spread out their technology development costs across multiple clients.
“It’s a business that checks so many boxes in terms of the brand that we want to have in the market and the value that we can deliver for our clients over the long haul,” said Tim Canonico, global and US managed services leader for PwC. “It’s absolutely front and center for us as one of our biggest strategic growth drivers.”
PwC has boosted hiring to meet increased demand as it aims for the offering to produce 20% to 25% of global advisory revenues, Canonico said.
KPMG has set a similar goal to grow its managed services to generate 15% to 20% of US consulting fees.
The firm also is hiring to keep up with demand for AI-backed tools in areas like anti-money laundering for financial institutions and a suite of applications geared for corporate finance teams, said Bassam Khattab, US managed services leader for KPMG LLP.
EY meanwhile is leaning into core areas like finance, risk, talent, and tax to run those functions for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to entities looking to go public, said Laurie Hollingworth, managed services lead for EY Americas.
Transforming processes and layering on new technology in addition to the skills EY professionals provide are key components of the service, Hollingworth said. She declined to comment on the firm’s revenue ambitions for the service.
“It puts us in very strategic conversations with our clients,” she said. “You become part of the fabric of their operation.”
Deloitte didn’t respond to questions about the size and growth of its managed services offering. The firm, however, dedicated an entire section of its latest global financial results to its “operate” business, noting “significant growth” and the launch of a new electronic health records service.
New Business Model
The pivot to running core business functions in lieu of selling advice reflects a broader shakeup in the consulting industry as AI shifts cost structures for firms and attracts new competitors to the market. Tech-native players like
The risk is that those technology firms eventually could undermine the Big Four’s premier position in the market, Rodenhauser said.
Managed services itself isn’t new—firms began hoovering up corporate tax departments through outsourcing deals in 2018. Historically those offerings required a large workforce and delivered thin profit margins, compared to high-priced advisory projects.
The viability of agentic AI, however, has flipped that script, enabling firms to run corporate services with fewer people and higher margins. Multi-year deals, with recurring revenue, enable firms to spot pain points and emerging risks—opportunities to cross-sell additional services, including more lucrative advisory work.
Firms are seeking more predictable sources of income after the post-pandemic boom and bust business cycle that featured two years of soaring revenues followed by a sudden drop off in fees and a wave of layoffs.
Leading with managed services and tucking in other types of advisory work provides a more resilient business model. “AI changed the economics,” said Hrish Desai, associate accounting professor at Arkansas State University.
The firms acknowledge the pressures facing the sector and see managed services and AI as tools to counter those dynamics.
“We believe that AI has the potential to revolutionize the consulting industry and we’re committed to being at the forefront of this transformation,” said KPMG’s Khattab.
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