Based on insights from more than 1,000 senior business leaders and its global customer community, The Client Work Report highlights a growing perception gap between what clients believe AI can deliver and what it can realistically achieve, creating new risks for businesses delivering client work.

The findings show that 33% of respondents say clients now believe AI gives them the tools to take a DIY approach to work. As these tools become mainstream, expectations around speed and cost are shifting quickly. But reality is more complicated. 

AI can help teams move faster, but it still struggles with complex tasks that require judgment, experience, and big-picture thinking. This is where the gap appears. A recent study from Scale AI and the Centre for AI Safety found that even the most advanced AI systems can independently complete only 2.5% of projects. 

Daniel Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO of Teamwork.com, said, 

“Access to AI isn’t the same as delivering results. Clients now have powerful tools at their fingertips, and that’s shifting expectations around speed and cost. Many clients now believe that AI-assisted work should automatically be cheaper and quicker to deliver. But judgement, accountability and real expertise still separate great work from average output.

What we’re seeing is a fundamental misunderstanding of where AI’s value actually lies. It’s an incredible tool for speed and efficiency, but it doesn’t replace the strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and years of experience that clients are actually paying for. 

It means showing clients what AI cannot do like reading the room in a boardroom presentation and adjusting your approach on the fly or knowing from years of experience that a strategy needs to change because the market shifted overnight before the client has even noticed. The teams that understand this distinction will be the ones that protect their value.

There’s also a real risk here that businesses can’t afford to ignore. When clients believe AI can do the heavy lifting, the natural next question is why they should pay the same rates for work they think a tool can handle. If client-facing teams don’t articulate what they bring beyond the tools, they will find themselves in a race to the bottom on price. And that’s a race nobody wins.

The danger is that businesses respond to this pressure by cutting fees to stay competitive, without realizing they are chipping away the very foundations that make their work valuable. 

Price is easy to compete on in the short term, but it’s an incredibly difficult position to recover from once clients have reset their expectations of what things should cost.

The businesses that thrive won’t be the ones who panicked and dropped their prices. They’ll be the ones who invest in their people and use AI to deliver work that clients simply couldn’t get anywhere else.

For more information visit: https://www.teamwork.com/2026-strategic-shifts/.