Summary: AI is not making consultants obsolete. It is forcing firms to separate activities that create value from activities that merely consume time. The result will be new pricing models, smaller delivery teams, and a growing shift toward productized consulting assets.
High consultant salaries are not disappearing because AI makes analysis faster.
They are coming under pressure because AI is forcing consulting firms to explain where their value really comes from.
For decades, the consulting model was built around expertise, labour and time. Clients paid firms to conduct research, analyse markets, build business cases and develop recommendations. Large teams of junior consultants supported smaller groups of managers and partners, creating the pyramid structure that became synonymous with the industry.
Artificial intelligence is beginning to challenge that model. Research, synthesis, documentation and first-pass analysis can now be completed in hours rather than weeks. As those activities become cheaper and more accessible, consulting firms are being forced to answer a difficult question: if AI can produce much of the output, what exactly are clients paying for?
The answer will shape the next decade of consulting.
Disrupt Yourself Before Someone Else Does
One of the most revealing comments on this shift came recently from Jan Herrmann, a Partner at PwC Germany.
Speaking about AI’s impact on consulting, he reportedly said:
“We have to disrupt our own business model with AI, otherwise someone else will.”
It is a striking statement because it captures the dilemma facing the industry.
Consulting firms have historically benefited from knowledge advantages. They possessed frameworks, benchmarks, methodologies and specialist expertise that were difficult for clients to access independently. AI is reducing some of that advantage by making information, analysis and problem-solving capabilities more widely available.
This does not mean consulting becomes obsolete. However, it does mean firms can no longer rely on information asymmetry alone. Increasingly, they must demonstrate that their value comes from judgement, implementation and outcomes rather than simply possessing knowledge.
The speed of adoption suggests this shift is already underway. According to research referenced in the German consulting market, around 70% of consulting firms already see AI as a key future revenue driver. The conversation has moved beyond experimentation. AI is becoming part of the operating model.
The End of the Billable Hour?
The most immediate pressure point is pricing.
Traditional consulting economics are largely based on effort. Projects are scoped around the amount of work required, teams are staffed accordingly and fees are linked to time spent delivering the engagement.
That becomes difficult to defend when technology dramatically reduces the effort required.
Herrmann argued that work which previously took six to eight weeks and cost between €150,000 and €200,000 could soon be completed in as little as 24 hours. Whether every engagement reaches that level of efficiency is less important than what it signals. Clients are increasingly aware that AI changes the economics of delivery.
As a result, many firms are exploring outcome-based pricing models. Instead of charging for hours worked, fees become linked to measurable business improvements such as EBITDA growth, cost reduction, productivity gains or revenue increases.
There are already examples of mid-sized boutique firms applying this with discipline. One partner described a model where the firm first sells a fixed-price diagnostic, then moves into an implementation phase where the fee is fully guaranteed against delivery of a defined outcome.
The numbers matter. A diagnostic phase may be worth around €500,000, but the implementation that follows can become a €5 million-plus engagement. That only works when the firm has enough repetition, delivery confidence and proof around a specific problem area to price against outcomes without simply taking uncontrolled risk.
This is more than a pricing change. It represents a shift in how consulting firms define value.
The discussion moves away from how much work was completed and toward what impact was achieved. Firms that can directly influence business performance may benefit from this transition. Those that depend heavily on effort-based billing models may find it more challenging.
The Rise of Productised Consulting
Alongside pricing changes, another trend is emerging: the productization of consulting.
Historically, consulting has been sold as bespoke intellectual work. Teams were assembled to solve specific problems, applying expertise and methodologies to each engagement. The value sat largely within people.
AI is making it easier to embed that knowledge into software, workflows and digital tools.
Rather than repeatedly selling the same expertise through labour, firms can increasingly package their intellectual property into scalable assets. Methodologies become software. Frameworks become AI-powered workflows. Expertise becomes a repeatable product.
This changes the economics significantly.
A traditional consulting engagement scales through hiring more people. A productized asset can be developed once and deployed repeatedly across multiple clients. The marginal cost of delivery falls while scalability increases.
This is one reason consulting firms are increasingly partnering with specialist technology providers. Consulting firms bring industry expertise, client relationships and credibility. Technology companies bring speed, innovation and product development capabilities.
The line between consulting firm and technology company is becoming increasingly blurred.
Why the Pyramid Is Under Pressure
AI is also challenging one of consulting’s most established operating models: the pyramid.
For decades, firms relied on large numbers of analysts and associates supporting a smaller number of senior consultants. Much of the junior work involved research, analysis, modelling and presentation development.
Those activities are increasingly being automated.
As a result, many industry leaders are predicting a shift away from the traditional pyramid structure. Future teams may be smaller, more experienced and supported by extensive AI infrastructure. Rather than leveraging junior headcount, firms will increasingly leverage technology.
This could create more efficient delivery models, but it also raises an important question about talent development.
The Training Challenge Nobody Has Solved
One of the unintended consequences of AI is that it threatens the traditional apprenticeship model on which consulting has long depended.
Junior consultants historically developed expertise through repetition. They learned industries by conducting research, analysing markets and supporting client engagements. Over time, they built the commercial judgement required to become effective managers and partners.
If much of that work disappears, firms lose an important training ground.
The challenge is not simply teaching consultants how to use AI. It is ensuring they still develop the judgement needed to interpret information, challenge assumptions and advise senior executives.
Technology can accelerate learning and improve productivity. It cannot fully replace experience.
This may become one of the most important strategic questions facing consulting firms over the next decade. The firms that solve it will have a significant advantage in developing future leaders.
Impact Becomes the New Currency
Perhaps the biggest lesson from AI is that it is exposing where consulting value really lives.
The activities becoming automated were never the ultimate product. Clients did not hire consultants because they wanted research, spreadsheets or presentations. They hired them because they wanted better decisions, faster execution and stronger business outcomes.
AI is making that distinction harder to ignore.
As routine knowledge work becomes cheaper, the premium increasingly shifts toward capabilities that remain difficult to automate: problem framing, executive judgement, stakeholder management, organisational influence and accountability for results.
The consulting firms that thrive in this environment will be those that build their propositions around these capabilities rather than around effort.
AI will not eliminate high consultant salaries.
It will, however, make them much harder to justify through activity alone.
The next phase of consulting will be defined less by output and more by impact. The salaries that survive will be the ones attached to judgement, ownership and measurable outcomes.
Ben Appleton is the founder of Strat-Bridge, a specialist executive search partner to the strategy consulting industry. He works with global consulting firms and senior leaders across the UK, Germany, Switzerland, and beyond — helping them build capability at the Partner and Director level.
