How A.I. Is Reshaping Consulting From the Bottom Up
The rapid spread of A.I. is starting to reshape the consulting industry, and not without pain. The technology can now handle many of the tasks once assigned to junior, entry-level consultants—often faster, cheaper and more accurately. As a result, A.I. has been linked to thousands of planned job cuts at consulting giant McKinsey & Company, as well as frozen starting wages at several major firms.
However, fears of widespread automation may be overstated. Alex Adamopolous, CEO of London-based software company Emergn, argues in Consultancy.uk that A.I. is more likely to disrupt consulting than eliminate it. As A.I. makes formerly high-end work like market research and strategy planning available in minutes, he says, consulting firms will be forced to abandon their traditional model of diagnosing problems, recommending fixes, and then walking away. In its place, a new approach is taking shape—one where partners focus on transferring capability to clients and embedding a “repeatable method of working.”
The death of the consulting pyramid
Journalist Joe Nocera argues that this shift could actually be good news for consulting’s battered reputation. He points to the industry’s long-standing business model, in which firms charged clients for “manpower and time spent on the project.” That structure rewarded long, labor-heavy engagements, even when results weren’t guaranteed. Over time, that led many clients to view profit-focused consultants as “a scam.”
In the A.I. era, that model is losing its grip. Clients can now use A.I. tools to run analyses and research that once cost millions in consulting fees. As Nocera notes, this has pushed companies to demand outcome-based contracts—paying for results rather than hours worked. That pressure is already showing up in the numbers. According to Business Insider, 25 percent of McKinsey’s fees now come from outcome-based pricing.
This shift is also forcing consulting firms to rethink how they’re structured internally. Traditionally, firms operated as a pyramid: a wide base of junior consultants doing research and analysis, topped by a small group of senior leaders focused on strategy and client relationships. That structure is starting to crumble.
“The current pyramid model will gradually shift with a shrinking at the bottom half of the pyramid,” as A.I. takes over tasks once handled by junior consultants, Arda Ecevit, co-founder of A.I. strategy platform NexStrat AI, told Observer. Instead, he said, firms should move toward a “more senior-expert-heavy” model.
That thinning of the pyramid is already underway. The “Big Four” accounting firms—KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC—are all cutting back on entry-level roles largely because of A.I. adoption.
The changing role humans will play in consulting
According to Ecevit, it’s not just junior roles that are under threat. Specialized A.I. platforms can now “perform many key roles associated with the role of project managers or even partners,” he said. That includes building project plans, shaping strategy, advising on key decisions and even flagging potential risks.
Still, some parts of consulting remain firmly human. Ecevit emphasized that people will continue to play a critical role in leadership, motivating organizations through change, implementing strategy, aligning stakeholders and navigating “tricky” internal dynamics.
In a Harvard Business Review article, three consulting experts divided consulting roles that can’t be automated into three groups: A.I. facilitators, engagement architects and client leaders.
In that framework, A.I. facilitators would be junior consultants fluent in the latest tools, responsible for designing and improving A.I.-driven workflows that help “teams generate insights at speed.” Engagement architects would be more experienced consultants who define problems, apply human judgment to A.I.-generated findings, and turn those insights into strategy. Client leaders, meanwhile, would focus on executive relationships—helping organizations manage change and anticipate disruption.
If this model takes hold, A.I. fluency will become essential to both consulting firms and how clients judge their value. As Ecevit puts it, the message for “existing consultancies” in the A.I. age is simple: “adapt or die.”