How 175-Year-Old PwC Built AI Into Its Business Model | Ian Kahn, Partner

In this episode, Ian Kahn, PwC partner and global leader for its Customer and Commercial Excellence platform, joins Liam to discuss what AI adoption actually looks like inside large organizations. Ian has spent 27 years at PwC and leads a global team of almost 10,000 practitioners focused on helping clients build stronger customer relationships and drive growth.

Ian explains why the biggest challenge with AI is not access to the technology, but getting people and business models to change with it. He shares why PwC sees a small group of companies capturing most of the value from AI, how leaders can reduce resistance to change, and why the number of agents deployed matters less than how the business itself evolves.

They also get into how Ian uses his own portfolio of AI agents, the shift toward voice-based interaction, and how agents can take over routine administrative work so teams can spend more time on higher-value customer relationships.

Key Topics Covered

Why Ian calls AI the biggest change of his 27-year career

Why 20% of companies are capturing 75% of the value from AI deployment

How leaders can overcome resistance to AI adoption

How PwC is embedding AI into its business model

How Ian uses his own portfolio of AI agents

Why AI agents should free people for higher-value work

The role of voice in the future of work

Why leaders need to explain the "why" behind AI transformation