Guest article: Jim Walton, Ascend Studio
AI has moved from novelty to necessity in professional services. Law firms are generating thought leadership in seconds. Accountancy practices are automating insights from complex data. Management consultancies are producing reams of content to keep pace with clients’ expectations.
But the truth is, the rise of AI hasn’t raised the standard of content. It has raised the volume. And when every firm is using the same tools, with the same default models and the same generic prompts, the result is predictable. Everything begins to sound and look similar.
This is the challenge facing professional services brands today. AI will only ever be as distinctive as the brand strategy sitting behind it. Without clear guidance, distinctive language and a defined point of view, firms unintentionally feed sameness into the system – and get sameness out.
How to stay effective
The success of AI depends entirely on the quality of the prompts you give it – but most brand guidelines were never designed with AI in mind. A traditional tone-of-voice sheet listing a few adjectives is nowhere near enough to steer a model towards meaningful, recognisable content.
Without a crystal-clear brand position and an articulated voice, AI defaults to the generic: safe language, ‘same old’ phrasing, neutral opinions, obvious imagery. Instead of enhancing what makes a firm unique, it risks flattening it.
We should never lose sight of the fact that the real magic still happens in those moments when a brand genuinely connects with its audience – the clarity, the resonance, the quiet certainty of ‘they’re the team for me’.
It’s a nuance, an instinct, a human spark. Something AI can support, but never deliver on its own.
The new role for brand
A well-defined brand platform acts as the instruction manual AI desperately needs. It provides the strategic and verbal guardrails – positioning, language, tone, values, narrative – that allow AI to create content that feels consistently and unmistakably ‘you’.
We’re starting to see prompts themselves becoming part of brand guidelines. Brand will define not only what a firm sounds like, but how AI should express it. Internal teams will use approved prompt structures, vocabulary lists, banned phrases and image-generation guidance to ensure that automated content remains on-brand.
We’ve already seen this in action. When we worked recently with a leading UK law firm, AI played a role in developing copy for their new website. But it only worked because Ascend first built a robust brand framework with a clear tone of voice and directions. The AI didn’t produce something generic – the technology amplified the distinctiveness that was already there.
If your brand isn’t clearly defined, AI can’t protect it, express it or accelerate it. But when you invest in a rich, human-built brand platform, AI becomes a multiplier. It makes your communications more consistent, more scalable and more recognisable.
With over 20 years in the design industry, Jim Walton leads Ascend Studio as Managing Director in crafting brand strategies and creative communications that connect purpose with impact. His work spans multiple sectors, with a focus on professional services, real estate and technology.
