Professional services firm launches AI division to help clients drive efficiency and revenue

To help clients capitalise on AI, professional services advisory firm Hutcheon Mearns has created a new service offering, focusing on the use of technology to deliver efficiency gains for clients.

The launch of its AI service offering sees Hutcheon Mearns integrate the team at strategic AI consultancy Rock River Research into the firm. According to Hutcheon Mearns, the formation of an AI consultancy and product offering represents another step change in client support for the firm as it celebrates 10 years of operation.

Craig Hutcheon co-founded the firm in Aberdeen in 2015 to offer recruitment and consultancy services to the finance sector. It has since added offices in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, increased its headcount to around 70 people and focuses on the three key areas of deals, people and insights.

Rock River Research was formed by Keith and Kirsty Copeland and it has developed a proprietary knowledge management tool that can be rolled out to organisations to rapidly transform operational tasks, understanding and efficiency. Keith has joined Hutcheon Mearns to head up its new division.

Keith explains that he started Rock River Research with his wife three years ago, just before he left the University of Edinburgh. Keith comments: “I saw the opportunities of building a framework around large language models to be able to provide the right information at the right time for the right process. The application we’ve built allows AI to do automated tasks 24 hour day, seven days a week. It can access websites, databases and send emails, alleviating the need for people to do data heavy processes that don't directly add value. This means people can be out talking to customers and leads, for example.

“Our technology is much like a ChatGPT, but with a lot more power under it and in a secure environment. One example is what we do for a large oil and gas engineering client around proposal generation. It would usually take six to eight weeks for one proposal. By combining the knowledge that people in the company have gained over the years of putting proposals together and the data gathered, technology can produce a proposal in about 30 minutes.”

Keith says he has been working with Hutcheon Mearns as a client for the last year, showcasing what AI can deliver. “We quickly realised that we could join the internal team and use our expertise and software to expand Hutcheon Mearns’ capabilities.”

On becoming part of the company, Keith says: “It’s an outwardly focused firm which is about growth and not fitting into a box. They care about their employees and everyone is so knowledgeable in their subject area. I can bring my knowledge of software development and implementation.”

The Hutcheon Mearns AI division, which is headed up by Keith and also includes other experts from Rock River Research, provides initial consultancy work as well as custom-designed AI software to streamline operations and automate complex processes. It offers staff training and technology support.

The new division dovetails with Hutcheon Mearns’s existing business intelligence and data automation services, with AI augmenting the ability to provide rapid cleansing, analysis and understanding of large complex data sets.

Keith explains: “AI and the Hutcheon Mearns’s insights team have much in common. The standardisation the insights team brings is something that can instantly be utilised by AI. And AI can ensure that everybody who requires it has access to the same information.”

He adds: “We’re getting started on the roadmap for clients and showcasing what our AI can do to help businesses bring in revenue. We also support people to get the most out of the technology so they can use AI to expedite processes and make their own jobs more interesting.”

Claire Clark, managing director at Hutcheon Mearns who oversees the wider intelligence offering, says: “We’re excited to have added a new dimension to our services, focused on the burgeoning world of AI and the profound impact it will have on how organisations deliver so many of their core activities.

“We’ve brought together a highly experienced and innovative team that possesses all the technical attributes required to work with clients – existing and new – to navigate the journey from strategic planning around AI to its successful front-line application.

“One of our priorities since we launched Hutcheon Mearns has been to look ahead, anticipate the needs and challenges of clients in an ever-changing business landscape, and shape our service model accordingly.”

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