Years ago, I had the privilege of leading one of the largest digital agencies in the US. With a team of 500 people spread across nine offices in North America and the UK, we were fortunate enough to work with some of the biggest brands in the industry. One of my business partners had an epiphany, we should create a "global brain" that would be accessible to everyone in our agency, from strategy and account services to delivery and business development. Our goals were simple: to have all the knowledge we needed at our fingertips, to eliminate unnecessary duplication of efforts, improve our response times to clients, and ultimately provide services that set us apart from our competition.
Unfortunately, back then, the technology simply wasn't advanced enough to achieve what we envisioned. We painstakingly planned and developed strategies, meticulously tagged documents, and created intricate storage and naming schemes. However, despite our best efforts, we found that we could only scratch the surface when it came to accessing the depth of the data we needed to achieve our goals.
Fast forward over a decade and the technology has evolved significantly, making that original vision achievable. This inspiration was one of the driving forces behind the creation of Lucy, our AI-powered Answer EngineĀ®.
In the initial phase, our primary focus with Lucy was on empowering Research & Insights for Fortune 500 companies. Over time, our trajectory has expanded over the past year or two across various use cases, especially within the Professional Services market. In this sector the need for effective Knowledge Management has become essential. Just the other day, I had a meeting with the CEO of a 500-person professional services company, who stressed the importance of this technology. They explained that the pressure to deliver more in less time is immense, and having the right tools to support their teams is crucial. In fact, the CEO warned that if they don't adapt, their competitors will leave them behind. In short, he made it clear that effective Knowledge Management is essential for their success.
So, what are the specific business cases that make Knowledge Management so vital for Professional Services?
While each firm may have unique use cases, the importance of effective Knowledge Management in Professional Services cannot be overstated. Looking back on my experience running large-scale professional services companies, I can't help but wish we had access to these tools. With the power of Knowledge Management, we would have been able to streamline our processes, access the information we needed instantly, and consistently deliver exceptional results to our clients.