Commentary: Who needs consultants in the age of AI?

In the era of artificial intelligence, the role and value of strategic consultants are being called into question. Firms like McKinsey, Bain & Company, and Boston Consulting Group, which advise senior executives on high-level business challenges, face a direct threat from AI's rapidly advancing capabilities. Unlike professions like law or accounting, where human sign-off is legally required regardless of AI assistance, strategic advice lacks this inherent safeguard. If AI can provide better, faster, or cheaper strategic insights, the argument follows that consultants may become obsolete.

AI demonstrates a remarkable aptitude for tasks that have long been the bread and butter of strategic consultants. These include conducting in-depth industry research, identifying broad patterns across multiple companies' strategies, and recommending actionable options. These services, which consultants have historically billed significant amounts for, are now within AI's reach. As AI integrates into tools like slide decks, these analytical functions risk becoming commoditized, diminishing their perceived value.

However, the commentary suggests that the threat may not be existential. Consultants themselves argue that the real value and the most challenging aspect of their work lie not in the analysis or recommendation phase, but in the implementation of those recommendations within complex organizations. This process involves navigating diverse executive beliefs, conflicting incentives, and varying levels of openness among stakeholders. Gaining trust and facilitating change in such environments remains a distinctly human endeavor.

While AI can generate strategies, it cannot, at present, replicate the nuanced human interaction, persuasion, and trust-building required to enact those strategies within a corporate structure. The ability to understand and influence human dynamics within boardrooms and executive suites is where consultants may continue to differentiate themselves, even as AI takes over more of the analytical heavy lifting. The future of strategic consulting may depend on its ability to adapt, focusing on the human element of change management rather than solely on strategic ideation.

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Getting a company to implement recommended changes is a contact sport that only humans can play