AI investors are buying professional services firms - this is what South African businesses can learn from the global trend

As investors begin to back accounting and IT services firms, Specno, South Africa’s leading product consultancy firm, states that SA businesses should also turn their expertise into digital products to grow revenue beyond billable hours.

In August 2026, Thrive Holdings announced more than US$2 billion in new capital and said it owned and operated over 70 businesses, with engineers building AI tools around for those practitioners’ daily work. OpenAI also took an ownership stake in the company in December 2025, with an initial focus on accounting and IT services specifically. Joshua Harvey, CEO of South African digital innovation agency and product consultancy Specno, says these investments point to an untapped opportunity for local South African businesses.

“If AI investors are backing businesses that sell human expertise, South African companies built on specialist knowledge must start asking if the expertise they sell by the hour could also be productised. While an accounting practice might seem like an unlikely AI investment, it already has what many technology start-ups spend years trying to build: paying customers, recurring problems and people who know how to solve them. South African firms should be asking whether some of their own expertise could earn revenue beyond the hours their people can work” says Harvey.

Multiplier Holdings is currently pursuing a similar model, acquiring professional-services firms and building AI tools around the work those firms deliver. Its portfolio includes Citrine International Tax and Onside Tax and Accounting.

Harvey believes this trend offers a compelling lesson for South African businesses, because it extends far beyond AI adoption to simply complete administrative tasks faster. It is an invitation for local business owners to examine what, exactly, their customers are paying for and whether part of that value could be delivered through a repeatable digital offering.

In a business that charges for time, growth usually means hiring more skilled people or asking existing teams to do more. Turning a proven method into a digital product could allow a local business to serve more customers without expecting their teams to carry a heavier load.

That might mean a subscription tool, a licensed platform or a service supported by software. The starting point, Harvey says, is a problem the business already understands: “If your best people keep solving versions of the same problem, there may be a product opportunity in that repetition. What do customers need repeatedly, and which parts of the solution can you deliver consistently through technology?”

Consider an insurance risk consultancy. An experienced engineer’s inspection method could become a tool that guides assessors through site visits, records findings and prepares draft reports for expert review. Initially, it could save the consultancy time and improve consistency. If other firms need the same capability, it could become a product others pay to use.

“Saving your team five hours is valuable. Getting another company to pay for the tool is a different challenge but also a long-term investment into a firm’s operational sustainability,” says Harvey. 

Expert oversight also remains essential wherever the work depends on professional judgement. A useful product must make clear what the technology can handle and where a qualified person needs to step in.

Harvey advises firms to start with one recurring customer problem, test willingness to pay and build a small first version with a handful of users. Specno helps businesses work through those decisions, from identifying a viable opportunity to developing and testing the product.

“For South African firms, the lesson is to look again at the expertise they already own,” he concludes. “If every new rand of revenue requires another hour of someone’s time, growth has a ceiling”. 

Harvey recommends that South African businesses hop onto the trend early, by starting with one recurring customer problem, testing willingness to pay and building a limited version with a small group of users: “This is where product consultancies like Specno play a critical role: we can help these businesses identify valuable expertise, validate demand and translate a proven method into a digital offering that can be tested and improved, ensuring our economy grows in line with the latest international economic trends”.