Jason Miller, President & CEO, Dean Dorton

In an interview with Invest:, Jason Miller, president and CEO of accounting and advisory firm Dean Dorton, discussed how uncertainty is reshaping client priorities and accelerating the shift from compliance work to advisory services. “We are optimistic about the region. The combination of talent, industry growth, and the broader business landscape creates a lot of opportunity,” Miller added.

How have broader economic changes over the past year affected your clients, and how has Dean Dorton adapted?

The biggest factor has been ongoing uncertainty. Between geopolitical issues, shifting market conditions, and the pace of change, many businesses have spent the last few years waiting for more stable conditions before making major decisions.

What we are seeing now is that more clients are realizing those familiar conditions may not return in the way they expected. Instead of staying on the sidelines, they are starting to move forward. That has changed how they operate, and it has changed how we support them.

Our advisory work has evolved to help clients navigate uncertainty, separate real business impacts from background noise, and make decisions with more confidence in a fast-changing environment.

How would you describe the economic climate across the markets you serve, and what are businesses most focused on today?

Access to capital and the cost of capital are still major concerns. Businesses are also thinking carefully about labor, technology, and how both will shape the next several years.

AI is part of almost every conversation. Even when companies are not yet seeing major direct impacts, they are asking what adoption could mean for staffing, productivity, and planning. That is especially true in the middle market, where leaders are trying to understand what their workforce needs look like now and what they may look like in the future.

At the same time, businesses are still managing broader labor market shifts. Aging populations, earlier retirements, immigration dynamics, and shortages in skilled trades are affecting different sectors in different ways. In industries such as construction, those issues directly influence timelines, labor availability, and costs.

How is the role of a professional services firm changing as client needs evolve?

That is one of the biggest conversations happening in the accounting and advisory space right now. Traditional compliance work remains essential, but technology is making parts of that work more efficient. As that happens, firms have an opportunity to shift more time and energy toward helping clients improve their businesses more broadly.

That means moving beyond being generalists focused only on the numbers. Clients increasingly want advisors who understand not just the accounting side of an industry, but also the operational realities, the risks, and the strategic decisions behind the business.

For firms like ours, that requires deeper industry expertise and a broader mix of talent. It is no longer just about hiring accountants and CPAs. It is also about bringing in professionals with specialized experience who can support clients as true advisors.

With your background in technology and consulting, how are you seeing demand evolve for advisory services compared with traditional accounting services?

Clients are looking to us for more support in areas involving uncertainty and rapid change, particularly around data, technology, and AI. The timeline for reacting to these changes continues to compress, so businesses want advisors who can help them make sense of the landscape and act quickly.

A big part of that work starts with data. Many organizations want to understand how AI can be applied in their business today, but when we begin those conversations, most of the work turns out to be data-related rather than AI-related. Before a company can take advantage of AI, it has to understand what data it has, where it sits, how accessible it is, and whether it is usable.

That has become more complex as businesses move away from large on-premise systems and toward cloud-based tools and multiple platforms working together. Bringing those data sources together in a meaningful way is often the first step. From there, companies can improve reporting, strengthen decision-making, and become more prepared for AI solutions.

At the same time, cyber and compliance concerns are becoming more important. As clients work with more data and evaluate AI tools, they also need to understand regulatory obligations, platform risks, and data governance requirements. That is another area where we are seeing strong demand for advisory services.

How are workforce dynamics shaping client strategy around talent, productivity, and organizational structure?

A lot of clients are still trying to figure that out. They know change is coming, but many are not yet certain what the practical effect will be on hiring models, team structures, or long-term workforce planning.

What I do think is happening is that more organizations are beginning to challenge the assumptions behind their historical hiring models. They are asking whether the roles they used to recruit for are the same roles they will need in the future, especially as digital transformation and automation become more common.

There are some pockets where technology is already having a more visible labor impact, such as software development and certain call center functions. But for most of our clients, the larger transformation is still ahead. They are trying to understand what is realistic for their business, what changes they need to prepare for, and how quickly those changes may arrive. There’s still a fair amount of uncertainty of what that looks like moving forward.

What opportunities are emerging in the high-growth sectors across the regions you serve?

We continue to see strong opportunities in construction, driven in part by onshoring activity and investment in manufacturing and distribution. That is creating demand for more modern, high-end industrial and logistics facilities.

Life sciences, biotech, and pharmaceuticals also continue to be strong sectors. Those industries remain important growth engines in several of the markets we serve.

Healthcare is another area that continues to expand, though the shape of that growth looks different from what it did in the past. It is more consolidated today around larger healthcare systems and organizations, but overall demand for healthcare services and the businesses that support that ecosystem is still increasing.

What are your top priorities for Dean Dorton over the next few years, and how do you see the profession evolving?

A major priority for us is continuing our own digital transformation and managing the broader shift from compliance to advisory. Those two things go together. As we become more efficient in compliance-based work, we can free up capacity for senior team members to spend more time in advisory roles and create more value for clients.

That also means rethinking how we develop talent. The traditional pyramid model in the profession, where large numbers of people come in out of school, handle entry-level work, and gradually move up, is changing. As more routine work becomes automated, the way people learn and grow within the firm has to change, too.

We are spending a lot of time thinking about what that means for early-career professionals, what kinds of work they will do, how we train them, and how we bring them into client relationships earlier than we might have in the past. The next generation is going to need a different skill set and a different development path than prior generations.

At the same time, we are continuing to align around industry specialties and deeper niche expertise. That is where we believe the profession is headed and where firms can make the biggest impact.

How is Dean Dorton positioning itself for growth in the Raleigh market over the next three to five years?

We are focused on the industry niches that fit the Raleigh market best, particularly real estate, construction, and life sciences. Those sectors are among the market’s strongest growth engines, and we want to make sure we are investing in the right people and capabilities to serve them well.

That means building teams with deep industry knowledge and delivering more non-compliance services alongside the traditional accounting work. Compliance services still matter, but increasingly they are table stakes. The differentiator is whether you have the knowledge, perspective, and advisory capacity to help clients solve real business problems.

For us, growth in Raleigh is about helping clients navigate digital change, labor challenges, and industry-specific issues with the right expertise behind them.

What gives you confidence about Raleigh’s long-term outlook?

We like the Raleigh market. The Triangle has a strong business environment and an educated labor force, which is a real advantage. That talent base is one of the region’s greatest strengths.

At the same time, that talent is in demand, so the market remains competitive. Even with strong higher education institutions feeding the pipeline, companies still have to work hard to attract and retain the right people.

Even so, we are optimistic about the region. The combination of talent, industry growth, and the broader business landscape creates a lot of opportunity, and we see that continuing to support long-term growth.