People Powered: the talent, skills and collaborations putting technology to work in professional services

Technology continues to shape our profession; the ways we work, how we deliver client service, and how we innovate. What sets HLB apart isn’t how we adopt these technologies, but the people putting them into practice across our network, and the intentional way we bring them together to do it.

Take our community of women in technology and innovation roles. Many followed routes that look nothing like the traditional path into accounting or IT, and that outsider's perspective is exactly what's helped them challenge the status quo and accelerate digital transformation at their firms. In this supplement edition in partnership with International Accounting Bulletin, I speak candidly with Monica Bové (HLB Spain) and Chardé Janse van Vuuren (HLB South Africa) about their experience, and how the industry could benefit from attracting more women into technology roles.

Rather than talking about artificial intelligence in theory, HLB brings firms together for hands-on events, putting the latest tools directly into colleagues' hands and encouraging firm-to-firm collaboration on the problems they face day to day. Our recent Technology & Innovation Symposium, covered in this edition, is the latest example and a model for how the network builds capability together.

Our partnership with Lovable reflects that same commitment to practical progress. As our deep dive into "vibe coding" explores, firms no longer need the technical expertise they once did to build their own solutions in-house, changing what's possible, and what firms should be hiring for, across the profession.

Together, these stories show a network thinking seriously about what AI advantage looks like: not the technology itself, but the people, partnerships and hands-on experience that put it to work. The three features that follow explore each in more depth.

Do get in touch with your feedback: a.spillard@HLB.GLOBAL