The consulting industry is facing its most significant disruption in decades, and it's not a new competitor or business model—it's coming from the commoditisation of the industry's core product. Analysis and insight, once the exclusive domain of consultants, is now available on demand through AI tools. The firms that survive this transition will be those that can answer a deceptively simple question: what do we sell when insight becomes a commodity?
The Two Pillars Under Pressure
For decades, management consultants have built their value proposition on two pillars: superior analysis and expert insights. Firms invested heavily in frameworks, methodologies, and the intellectual firepower to process complex business challenges. Clients paid premium rates for consultants to gather data, identify patterns, and deliver recommendations that leadership teams couldn't produce internally.
AI is rapidly dismantling both pillars. Sophisticated analysis that once required teams of analysts working for weeks can now be generated in minutes. Pattern recognition and insights across vast datasets are increasingly automated. The intellectual arbitrage that justified consulting fees is evaporating.
The New Reality
This isn't a distant future scenario. Clients already come to engagements armed with AI-generated analyses, expecting consultants to add value beyond what their own teams can produce with readily available tools. The question facing every consulting firm is stark: what do we sell when analysis and insights can be generated faster and more cost effectively with AI?
For decades, consulting firms built their value on superior analysis and exclusive insight. Today, AI tools can generate in minutes what once took teams weeks.
Clients now arrive armed with AI-generated analysis. The intellectual arbitrage that once justified consulting fees is evaporating.
From Knowing to Navigating
The future belongs to firms that move beyond knowing — to navigating. From producing answers to guiding decisions. From delivering slides to driving implementation.
Insight is now table stakes. Impact is the value.
Questions Worth Asking
- •Is insight already commoditised — or is this overstated?
- •What part of consulting's value proposition feels most exposed?
- •If analysis is table stakes, what should firms sell instead?
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Further Reading
- Delivery Insights — Explore the AI-powered products reshaping how organisations access insight.
- Glossary — Definitions for delivery intelligence, programme assurance, and more.
