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The landscape of strategy consulting is undeniably evolving, driven by advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI). While early discussions may have centered on AI as a potential threat to consultants’ jobs, the prevailing consensus is that AI is an augmentative tool, enhancing the quality and speed of services delivered to clients. Successful consulting firms will find a crucial balance between leveraging AI technologies and preserving the essential human touch in their services. This balance will likely shape the future modality of consulting services.
Believing that AI could entirely replace strategic consultants may not fully resonate with the breadth of what consultants do. Strategy consultants are not merely data analysts who collect information and plug it into frameworks. Their role involves understanding leadership dynamics, innovating, policy advocacy, managing conflicts, leveraging experience, and understanding stakeholders’ nuanced needs and aspirations. AI technology is currently a long way from being able to replace these human aspects of consulting.
Instead, AI functions as a powerful ally or sidekick to strategy consultants. It’s like a tireless associate with incredible computational capacity and instant access to vast amounts of knowledge, though currently lacking emotional innovation or nimble thinking in the human sense. When used effectively, AI can empower consultants to increase the quality of their work and boost productivity.
Asset-Based Consulting: The Future of the Industry
In traditional consulting, every engagement is bespoke—customized to meet the unique needs of each client. But as AI tools become more advanced, consultants can begin to develop standardized solutions that can be applied across multiple clients. This shift toward asset-based consulting is the future of the industry.
Asset-based consulting involves creating proprietary tools, models, and frameworks that can be reused across multiple engagements. For example, a firm might develop a set of AI-driven financial forecasting models, supply chain optimization tools, or data analytics platforms that can be applied to a wide variety of client situations. These assets allow consultants to deliver value more quickly and efficiently, as much of the groundwork has already been laid.
Types of Assets: Assets are software, including fine-tuned AI models, designed to deliver tangible outcomes for clients, such as labor productivity, cost efficiency, or revenue growth.
1. AI models and algorithms
2. Process automation tools
3. Proprietary databases and benchmarking tools
4. Building and integration tools
5. Vendor-specific technology tools
6. Agents and assistants: Agents and assistants work in tandem to enhance client support. Assistants are generative AI chatbots that manage everyday tasks and specific client needs. They handle routine queries, generate reports and provide summaries and recommendations based on real-time data or information specific to a client’s unique processes and business context.
7. Methods and Methodologies: Methods are repeatable frameworks that combine various assets and AI tools to achieve specific project goals and client outcomes. These curated approaches allow consultants to consistently deploy technology-driven solutions that are efficient, scalable and adaptable across different types of engagements, ranging from strategy and design to technology implementation to ongoing operations. Methods can also be customized to align with the specifics of a vendor’s technology stack, helping ensure flexibility and relevance to each client’s unique needs.
AI plays a pivotal role in asset-based consulting. By automating the creation of these assets and continuously refining them based on client feedback and data, consultants can deliver more sophisticated, accurate, and scalable solutions. These assets are not just tools; they become the core of the consulting firm’s offering. Firms that can develop a suite of high-quality, AI-powered tools and products will have a competitive edge in the market.
Moreover, the rise of asset-based consulting will led to new pricing models. Rather than charging clients for every hour of work, consulting firms can offer subscription-based pricing for access to their AI-powered platforms, tools, and models. This offers a more predictable and sustainable revenue stream for firms and allows clients to continue benefiting from the consultant’s expertise long after the initial engagement has ended.
AI is not only changing how consultants work internally but also how they deliver value to clients. It can productize much of the “execution” part of consulting work – the pattern-matching and capacity needed to implement solutions. This involves breaking down work into reusable modules and documenting processes in a structured format that clients can easily digest and adapt.
Accuracy and Verification: Generic generative AI can be prone to making things up (“hallucinations”), requiring consultants to always check the validity of the information provided. Even with professional solutions, reviewing references is good practice.
Supplementing, Not Replacing: AI should be used to complement human analysis and decision-making, not replace it entirely, as AI mimics understanding through algorithms but lacks true human experience and critical thinking.
Ethical Considerations: AI systems can contain biases, requiring vigilance to ensure solutions don’t inadvertently reinforce discrimination.
Privacy and Confidentiality: Protecting sensitive client data is crucial, and consultants must be proactive in complying with emerging regulations and addressing data safety with clients.
Copyright and Patent Issues: AI models trained on proprietary information or existing content can create legal risks regarding deliverables.
Skills Gaps and Over-Reliance: Over-reliance on AI risks neglecting the development of human skills like critical thinking, judgment, and creativity. AI lacks the human expertise, creativity, and critical thinking required for complex tasks like brainstorming, getting different perspectives, and deep stakeholder management.
Maintaining the Human Touch: Relying too heavily on AI can lead to impersonal client communication. While AI can draft content, it often lacks the human touch, which clients can detect. Reviewing AI-generated content to ensure it reflects the consultant’s voice is important.
Success in the AI-augmented consulting future hinges on finding the right balance between using technology and preserving the essential human touch. Viewing AI as an augmentative copilot or assistant enhances capabilities without sacrificing the personalized, client-involved approach that defines the profession. This approach also alleviates fears of job displacement, as AI makes some work easier but doesn’t eliminate the need for human skills and judgment.
Consultants must embrace AI technologies and develop new skills to navigate this evolving landscape. While AI handles data analysis and task automation, human consultants will continue to focus on developing actionable strategies, context-driven critical thinking, creativity, intuition, and building relationships. The key to success lies in combining AI with human experience, intuition, and critical thinking. Consultants should also occasionally apply their human skills in areas where they’d typically use AI to keep those skills sharp.
AI will support, not take over, the human touch that makes consulting effective. By leveraging AI’s power, consultants can deliver even more value to their clients, improve productivity and efficiency, and focus on the high-value strategic work that remains uniquely human. The future of consulting is one where AI and human expertise work together to deliver smarter, sharper, and more efficient solutions.
Must Try tools for Consultants:
The article was authored by Mubassir Rahman, Principal Business Consultant & Portfolio Manager at LightCastle Partners. For further clarifications, please contact here: [email protected]
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