TDNet Discover

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study was to examine how professional service firms navigate the complexities of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, with a focus on generative AI integration in knowledge-intensive service environments. Guided by disruptive innovation theory and the innovator’s dilemma, the study investigated how firms respond to the tension between innovation pressures and professional standards. The analysis drew from 39 publicly available documents published between 2023 and 2025 across the legal, accounting, and management consulting sectors. A total of 1,207 in vivo excerpts were inductively coded using document analysis and thematic analysis procedures. The resulting findings were organized into three themes and nine subthemes, capturing patterns in AI positioning, organizational impact, and implementation strategy. From this analysis, complementary disruption emerged as a practiceinformed conceptual model. Rather than choosing between innovation and tradition, firms positioned generative AI as augmentation, developed governance as infrastructure, and redefined professional roles as hybrid competencies. While consistent with the logic of disruptive innovation theory, the model is not presented as a formal extension of that theory. Instead, it offers an interpretive lens that may guide future inquiry into AI adoption within trust-dependent, high-accountability professions.