This week, global advisory and accounting network HLB International hosted its inaugural Innovation Symposium in the heart of one of London’s key tech hubs, Shoreditch.
The event set out to give professional services a first-hand look at what innovation means in their ecosystem, gathering key partners to explore key trends that should be adapted to and prepared for.
Colin Nelson, innovation advisor to HLB, offered his own definition of the event’s buzzword:
“Innovation is change with purpose that thrives best in collaboration”
Professional services has a reputation of being resistant to change and slower to adopt the latest technologies that have the potential to revolutionise the sector.
This is a reputation Nelson was keen to dispel when he addressed the audience. “I used to be able to stand up at these conferences and ask who can imagine what their industry will look like in 10 years’ time.”
“Now we don’t know what is happening in three months’ time […] that is why we need to innovate.”
Action-led insight
For all the talk about innovation, HLB were keen to expand beyond discussion. The symposium moved away from typical panels and lectures and instead offered interactive sessions designed to get people thinking by doing.
Among these was the Five Principles of Applied Improvisation, a session hosted by Sarah Kelly, a former Liberty Global innovation manager turned professional coach, that applied the art of improv comedy to professional services.
From active listening, ideation sessions and the foundational improvisational tenant of “Yes, and”, attendees learned how ineffective communication was fatal to productivity and how improvisation can help.
The symposium’s Ready, Set, Innovate challenge saw attendees placed in working groups to apply their learning in the form of 90 second value proposition pitches that had the event’s judges eager to hear more.
Outside of the workshops and sessions, attendees had the opportunity to get their hands on emerging technology directly at the HLB Future Café, a series of interactive tech booths designed to demonstrate how advances in technology could reshape businesses.
From real-time agentic helpers and avatars to a live facial recognition display, the symposium offered a step above in interactivity.
Professional services in the age of AI
Any event centred around innovation would be incomplete without discussions around AI, arguably the most transformative technology in today’s world.
AI is disrupting every sector, and its potential impact on professional services was demonstrated at the HLB Innovation Showcase, a session that saw three finalists of the HLB Innovation Award present their visions for innovating the industry.
“There is a lot of change and disruption coming to the accountancy profession”
Graeme Finnie, chairman of FD Intelligence in his AI and Leadership in Challenging Times talk
The audience was wowed by presenters from HLB South Africa, HLB Macedonia and HLB Man Judd in Sydney who presented innovations that included an AI platform trained on professional standards and tax laws, providing the capabilities for an accountant to perform complex financial analysis in a matter of minutes.
The crowd also got to hear from AI experts including the enigmatic chief executive of TrendOne, Nils Müller (pictured), who tasked attendees with envisioning the world in 2030, a time when AI will have fundamentally reshaped the industry.
Innovation ecosystem
HLB’s first Innovation Symposium successfully proved the point that collaboration is the best source of innovation.
“This is the power of the network,” said John Toon, HLB International’s newly appointed head of technology.
“We have so many people doing incredible things. If we can share those achievements more effectively and build on each other’s strengths, we won’t need to compete – we will move forward together.”
