I spent 20 years in Strategy Consulting, then 10 years powering them with SaaS solutions. Since launching my new endeavor—helping consultants ride the GenAI transformation wave—I've spoken with many Partners like you.
Something in the Air
I've heard some things.
- One ex-Bain, ex-Berger, ex-Kearney admitted he'd never even tried ChatGPT.
- Another was affirmative than quantum computing was a much bigger threat to consulting than over-hyped Gen AI.
- Many treat Gen AI like a tool for their teams—as if it's just a new Excel to teach analysts.
- And some argue, as if it was really the definitive patch, their firm has set up or acquired a central AI team—"pretty sharp guys"—somewhere in the US.
The pattern I see? Discomfort.
The headlines are relentless:
"AI will replace consultants.". "Three prompts that will eliminate McKinsey analysts."
Comments flood in from people cheering the supposed fall of "overpaid, incompetent consultants."
Not cool.
Now, I'm sure you, dear reader, are totally comfortable with AI. You master ChatGPT. You go way beyond summarizing documents or rewriting emails. You're confidently leading your firm into the AI future. Right?
But maybe—just maybe—you know some friends. Partners who feel a little... unsettled. And you wonder: How could they relieve that discomfort?
Tell Them It's Okay
Here's what I think is going on.
First, there's the overwhelm. The GenAI rollercoaster never stops—new tools, models, updates. It's dizzying.
Second—and this stings—they're no longer the smartest in the room. Still best educated, best paid, best networked... but now getting schooled on the most important business topic by non-MBAs. That burns.
Consulting Partners are used to being in control. To knowing. Crypto? Metaverse? Data Governance? They had talking points. But GenAI? They're improvising. Some even fear saying something stupid out loud. That's uncomfortable.
And here's the deepest shift—one most won't admit.
They're not automatically at the top of the food chain anymore. They used to lead the table in restructuring talks. Now? OpenAI's launching a consulting arm. McKinsey's cutting 10% of its workforce.
What Your Friend Should Do
So what can your friends do?
1. Invest Personal Time
No shortcuts here. They need real time with the tools.
It's impossible to have a meaningful view from the sidelines.
Experimenting—trying, failing, iterating—is the only way to understand how deep this goes.
Beyond summarization and copywriting - the grandfather stack - lies the real action: Agentic systems. Workflow reengineering. Prompting as a skillset.
Plus, they'll develop instincts around detecting hallucinations, resisting LLM sycophancy, avoiding cognitive atrophy. That will matter soon.
2. Stay Tool-Agnostic
There is no perfect AI tool.
The stack is unstable. Vendors core technologies are similar—and they are equally eager to lock you in before raising prices.
Get good at navigating across tools. Be fluid.
3. Start Small, Think Deep
The point isn't making slides faster. Consulting value was never in the deck—it's in the thinking and the influence.
So apply GenAI to actual consulting problems: delivery, team management, lead gen, key account management...
Bring real AI practitioners to the table—not just tech-savvy associates between cases.
Build your first agent—even a dumb one.
Why I'm Telling You This
Most AI doomers have never been inside the consulting world. They don't get what it's like to lead a room, win a client, become a trusted advisor.
But let's be real—this is different.
This disruption hits at the core mechanics of the consulting model. We don't know exactly how it will play out—but the economics are already shifting.
Here's what I do know: The best consultants are the ones who admit what they don't know—and figure it out faster than everyone else.
Your friends? They've still got it. They just need to get moving.