This blog was written in response to a recent Wall Street Journal article (Aug. 2, 2025) that asked a striking question: "If AI can analyse information, crunch data and deliver a slick PowerPoint deck within seconds, how does the biggest name in consulting stay relevant?"

It's a question that goes beyond McKinsey or the consulting industry—it touches every profession built on knowledge, insight, and expertise. In this piece, we explore how AI is not replacing the value consultants bring, but is transforming the way that value is created, delivered, and sustained in an AI-infused world.

For decades, the role of a consultant was clear: analyse, strategize, and advise. Often, that meant delivering insights wrapped in a polished slide deck and a well-structured roadmap. But in today's AI-infused world, those days are fading fast.

"The mediocre will be automated. The exceptional will be augmented."
That's not just a snappy line but it is the future unfolding in real time.

AI is changing the very substrate of business. i.e.: how decisions are made, how teams collaborate, how knowledge flows, and how systems evolve.

In this new reality, clients are no longer looking for outsiders to drop in with answers.
They're looking for partners who can rebuild the very systems they operate in.

And that requires a fundamental shift:

• From projects to platforms
• From solutions to systems
• From strategy to architecture

Consultants' roles are now more focused on co-creating new business ecosystems that are:

• AI-infused
• Continuously adaptive
• Systemically aligned for performance, purpose, and progress

Let's be clear: AI will not eliminate the need for consultants. But it will reshape the nature of consulting.

We are already seeing evidence of such reshaping. For example, please read the article in the Wall Street Journal, which explores how a premier consulting firm like McKinsey is navigating its existential transformation. (Click here to read the WSJ Article).

(Note: This phenomenon is not unique to consulting alone but similar patterns are emerging across the broader white-collar workforce.)

Tomorrow's consultants must become:

• Ecosystem architects, not just advisors
• Designers of AI-human collaboration, not just process optimisers
• Guides for cultural transformation, not just tech implementers
• Custodians of outcomes, not just owners of insight

This means helping clients:

• Align internal systems with external realities
• Infuse AI into workflows without losing human accountability
• Build new operating models that are intelligent by design
• Break silos and integrate teams into agile, learning ecosystems

Here are my observations: Some organisations are stuck applying old mental models to new dynamics by bolting AI onto legacy structures and expecting transformational results from tactical fixes.

Most organisations have not yet started to think systemically in the age of AI. This is likely because the AI-adoption & acceptance speed is only beginning to accelerate among individuals, but the related technology ecosystem is still evolving fast.

That's where modern consultants come in.
Not as preachers of best practice, but as co-creators of new practice to help organisations rethink:

• What their business really is
• What work should look like
• What does value mean in a dynamic, machine-augmented world

The ones who can architect this change won't just stay relevant, but they will lead the next era of business transformation.

The consulting role is not disappearing, but it is maturing.

It's becoming more embedded, more adaptive, and more outcome-focused than ever before. And those who rise to the challenge will be the ones who don't just deliver strategies… but who build ecosystems of resilience, intelligence, and growth.

Let us evolve together.

• Are you seeing this shift in your industry or with your clients?
• What role do you believe consultants should play in the age of AI?

To gain further insights and explore practical ideas for each business stage, we invite you to click the links below and join us. Alternatively, please scroll down and leave us a comment.

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