PwC CEO: You cannot opt out of AI

Paul Griggs, U.S. senior partner and CEO for Big Four firm PwC, said they plan to adjust billing model in certain areas to factor in AI, and added that if any of those same human professionals have a problem with it they have no place in this firm. 

Griggs, in an interview with the Financial Times, said that the firm will offer alternatives to the traditional hours-based billing model that has become the default assumption within the profession. Instead, some tax and advisory services will be more based on AI tools with a different service delivery model. 

A specific example is the PwC One platform, which launched today, touted as part of its vision for AI-enabled professional services. Trained on proprietary methodologies, domain expertise, and compliance frameworks, the AI platform surfaces patterns, tests assumptions and accelerates analysis. Scott Likens, global and U.S. chief AI Engineer with PwC, said in an email that it is designed as a self-service experience that clients can access and use directly. 

It's meant to let clients interact with AI-enabled capabilities in real time while work continues to be guided by PwC's standards and experience. It would also be used directly by PwC professionals, with the platform serving as a sort of "digital front door." This is all with the intention of moving beyond episodic projects toward more continuous insight, earlier identification of emerging risks and opportunities, and deeper collaboration between PwC professionals and their clients.

Built with agentic AI, it has a variety of use cases that include things like acting as a financial statement analyzer that reviews client financial statements against PwC's tax playbooks to highlight potential areas worth exploring; a tax incentives explorer that Identifies a broad range of potential tax incentives, grants, credits and other funding opportunities based on client operations; a transfer pricing policy compliance reviewer that compares client transaction data to documented policy to identify potential misalignment; a transfer pricing: Intercompany agreement reviewer that reviews client intercompany agreements against actual transactions to help identify inconsistencies early; a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions navigator that uses anomaly detection solution to help organizations proactively identify unusual patterns, data quality issues, and emerging risks across sustainability data; or a financial due diligence assistant that provides an initial view of key financial and related deal risk, accelerating early-stage decision-making. 

Likens said these capacities are best understood as agent-driven use cases applied to specific client needs and workflows. Additional use cases will continue rolling out over time as the platform expands into new areas. 

The platform itself is built on a multi-agent architecture that combines traditional AI, generative AI, machine learning and other techniques to orchestrate specialized capabilities that work together, from surfacing patterns and testing assumptions to accelerating analysis within PwC's methodologies and workflows. It is accessed via a conversational interface so users can engage in plain language, ask questions, and guide the system much like they would in a chat. Beyond the chat interface, it also features a dynamic, structured canvas that surfaces data, workflows and outputs in real time. Likens said that as the user interacts, whether by prompting or selecting elements, the canvas updates to reflect analysis, assumptions and next steps. 

"So rather than clicking through static menus, it's a more fluid experience that combines conversation with interactive, context-aware visuals and tools," he said. 

While clients can make use of these capacities on their own, Likens said that a PwC professional remains in the loop in every case — reviewing outputs, applying judgment and maintaining alignment with PwC standards, regulatory requirements and the client's specific context. 

"That human oversight is a critical part of how the platform is used today, helping maintain the level of trust, quality and accountability clients expect," he said.

Griggs said that clients might use the software on their own in the first steps, but depending on the specific use cases they are interested in exploring, as well as next steps after initial use, PwC professionals would be involved in follow-up engagements. 

The CEO, in the interview, appeared to have little patience for those who would hesitate on this point. He said that senior staff who are not thinking of ways to be AI-first would likely be replaced by others more comfortable with using it, saying that no one gets a free pass, and anyone who thinks they can opt out of AI won't be at the firm long. 

PwC One's pricing model will evolve over time, but may involve subscription or consumption-based pricing elements.