Humans Out, Algorithms In: The Big Four’s AI Revolution

The multinational professional services firm PwC is a member of the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms worldwide: PwC, Deloitte, EY, and KPMG. These companies stand at a crossroads as Artificial Intelligence rapidly reshapes their traditional business models. Previously defined by headcount growth and reliant on human expertise, these firms are now turning to data analytics, automation, and AI tools to sustain their productivity amid scrutiny over slowing growth rates. 

In recent news, which symbolises this transition, PwC has been condemned for abandoning its global headcount target. Though the company prides itself on its commitment to “driving inclusive growth” and claiming that “our people are our greatest asset”, the decision to ignore its pledge in 2021 suggests otherwise. Mohamed Kande, the firm’s global chair, “quietly scrapped the pledge made by his predecessor in 2021 that PwC would add 100,000 to its worldwide headcount by the middle of next year”. Instead, PwC reduced its staff by 5600 in the first half of 2025, pushing its total workforce below 365,000. While this decision could be seen as a cautious step considering the firm’s slower growth in 2025, it also reflects a deliberate shift towards a technology-driven operation. Kande stated the firm has invested in training over 315,000 people in AI to enhance productivity.This demonstrates that growth at PwC is being redefined not by expanding the workforce, but by strengthening the technological capabilities of existing employees.

PwC’s decision represents the first slowdown in its workforce expansion since 2010. The original plan to hire 100,000 new employees was developed after the Covid-19 pandemic as the firm focused on “planning for a post-pandemic world, continuing recruitment activity and investing in the workforce of the future”. However, in 2021, before the launch of generative AI, the firm could rely on headcount growth as a primary way to increase capacity and deliver services. Today, the professional services sector has undergone significant changes. The post-pandemic surge in advisory work has slowed, and clients now expect to receive work that is more efficient and less costly. AI offers PwC a path to deliver this by automating tasks once performed by junior staff and reducing costs in audit, tax and consulting services.

In 2025, PwC reported gross revenues of US$56.9 billion, representing a 2.7% increase in local currency. Although this outperformed the last financial year, which saw gross revenues of US$55.3 billion, PwC is lagging behind the rest of the Big Four.EY reported a 4% increase while Deloitte emerged as the highest with a 4.8% increase. PwC’s shift from scaling up its workforce to scaling up its technology to match the full potential of AI can be read as a response to its slower growth rate compared to competitors. Moreover, Bob Moritz, Kande’s predecessor, set a five-year investment target of $12 billion, primarily to “rapidly expand its use of the cloud, artificial intelligence, technology alliances, virtual reality and other emerging technologies” The fact that PwC met this target a year ahead of schedule is a testament to how aggressively firms across the globe have prioritised technological transformation.

PwC leaders do not view AI as a tool for cutting costs while prioritising efficiency. AI is instead regarded as a new method to incorporate into existing models so that, as Kande stated, “we continue to hit our investment targets, and we continue tohire”. Kande interprets a stronger emphasis on AI as not necessarily a halt in recruitment but rather a recalibration that highlights an ongoing investment in innovation.

However,  there will be a substantial decrease in hiring, particularly, as noted by Jack Taylor, when it comes to hiring graduates.Taylor writes that PwC is responding to the rapid development of AI and how it is reshaping the workplace, so that especially entry-level jobs will have to be transformed. Taylor quotes Jenn Kosar, the AI assurance leader at PwC, stating that “AI is functioning at more of the staff and routine task level, that’s what we’re building for”, meaning that AI is pushing the Big Four to reshape their business models to capitalise on how AI can allow junior employees to focus on “more advanced and value-added work”. Therefore, there will be a decrease in entry-level hiring across the professional services industry. Still, PwC is glossing over this by framing the change as an investment in efficiency and upskilling. The firm’s AI strategy aligns with a shift in how early-career talent enters and develops within companies since it now prioritises a smaller, more specialised workforce equipped to work alongside AI.

Furthermore, PwC’s decision to rescind its headcount pledge arguably aligns with pressures on its reputation. PwC has faced multiple scandals in the past few years. In 2024, the firm was fined more than $62 million after it was accused of helping to cover up fraud at the Chinese property giant Evergrande. PwC also had an incident in Australia where partner Peter John Collins was accused of and charged with “sharing confidential government information about multinational tax avoidance”. This triggered widespread scrutiny not just of PwC but of all the Big Four accountancy firms in terms of their work in the public sector. PwC has since withdrawn operations if deemed “too small, risky, or unprofitable”, particularly from Africa, where it cut ties with 10 firms.

These moves signal a broader industry trend across the accountancy firm, suggesting its leaders are trying to prioritise quality over scale. Its mission statement, which emphasises “investing in high-quality audits” and ensuring “the quality and outcomes we deliver”, now appears to be guiding a broader transformation of the firm’s global model. In this sense, the move away from headcount growth mirrors a reorientation of the company’s identity. Instead of acting as a firm focused on size and reach, PwC is now centring itself on avoiding these past, low-quality mistakes so that it can adapt to the AI era in the name of prioritising high-quality work.

PwC is not the only one of the Big Four to reshape its business model around AI. Deloitte, EY, and KPMG are all pursuing similar strategies of cutting graduate intakes and equipping current workforces to optimise AI in professional services. KPMG, for instance, saw the steepest reduction in its 2023 graduate intake with a 29% drop. This has earned criticism since many perceive a growing tension within the industry, where, in trying to prioritise efficiency, these firms risk eroding the talent line that sustained their long-term growth in the first place. Nevertheless, this shift signals that AI is no longer just a tool for improving productivity, but it is beginning to form the foundation of multinational companies’ business models. In redefining their approach in the age of AI, the Big Four are not just trying to optimise their revenues but reimagining the whole structure and purpose of professional services.

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