AI is forcing the consulting industry to reinvent itself.
Leading companies are racing to incorporate technology into nearly every aspect of their business, from how consultants execute client projects to how employees are trained, promoted, and evaluated.
McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, and IBM Consulting are now hiring more technology talent, building AI tools and agents, and encouraging staff to use them in their daily work.
Business Insider took a closer look at how the consulting industry is changing. Read the stories below to learn how AI is reshaping work and the companies and startups leading that change.
How will the work of consultants change?
AI is changing not only how consultants advise clients, but also who does that work.
Consulting firms are currently promoting a new class of so-called “forward deployment engineers.” These are employees who work directly with customers to customize AI tools, connect them to company data, and turn them into products that solve specific business problems. In a sense, they are becoming the new consultants. In other words, they are engineers, strategists, and translators between AI systems and the companies trying to use them.
Rise of AI agents
AI agents are changing the very structure of consulting work.
Companies are using them to automate rote tasks, downsize project teams, and transfer more work to smaller groups of humans who oversee networks of digital colleagues. Consultants at BCG, IBM, McKinsey and others are being asked to not only use AI tools, but also to build, manage, and oversee agents that can reshape traditional consulting hierarchies.
A new era of consulting
AI is bringing consulting and Silicon Valley closer together, sometimes even blurring the lines between them. Large companies are trying to become more like technology companies, building software, hiring engineers, and turning that expertise into products.
At the same time, AI startups are entering the core business of consulting, offering faster and cheaper versions of strategy work, research, and analysis. The result is a new competitive environment in which McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte, and the Big Four are all aligned with and protect themselves from technology companies.