Five studies of the market, the money, the tools and the threat from AI for independent advisory firms. Each one gives its charts, its sources and its limits, so you can check the work yourself.
AI and deal work
What AI-native firms have really changed, which tools deal teams run on, and how AI holds up on banker work.
US consulting and legal jobs held up after ChatGPT; accounting slipped in 2025
- Consulting services
- Legal services
- Accounting, tax and bookkeeping
AI-native firms have not taken strategy consulting's market
AI-native firms1 November 2026
Advisers report the deepest AI integration of any deal group
Only 28% of deal professionals call their AI well integrated
Technology benchmark1 November 2026
The closer a task gets to building and judging, the lower the best score
- Reading and comparing
- Deal analytics
Bankers rated 0% of the best model's outputs "client-ready"
AI in deal work1 November 2026
The advisory market
How many deals there are, who buys them, where they fail, and what an independent firm earns and spends.
Foreign buyers now complete more UK acquisitions than UK buyers, and sales of subsidiaries between UK groups have collapsed
- Foreign buyer
- UK buyer, independent target
- UK buyer, subsidiary sale
Deal value has rebounded, but deal count has not
Deal market1 November 2026
Pay is sticky: when revenue fell, the pay ratio jumped at Moelis and barely moved at Houlihan Lokey
- Houlihan Lokey
- Moelis
- Evercore, PJT, Lazard and Perella Weinberg
Pay takes two-thirds of advisory revenue
Advisory economics1 November 2026