Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI
2026-01-21T10:11:01.241Z
AI is transforming consulting firms like McKinsey & Company and Boston Consulting Group.
Firms now have dedicated staff members who build and test AI tools.
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For decades, consulting firms sold advice by the hour — armies of junior staff churned out research, built slide decks, and synthesized information for senior executives.
Now, artificial intelligence is quietly rewriting that playbook.
At firms like McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Deloitte, AI has moved from a buzzword to an indispensible tool. Consultants are using it to write code, analyze data, draft presentations, and even build agents that can autonomously complete tasks.
McKinsey & Company CEO Bob Sternfels said the firm now has 25,000 AI agents working alongside its 40,000 employees, and aims to reach a one-to-one ratio within the next year and a half. BCG has leaned into building thousands of custom GPTs for internal and client use and evaluating how its employees use them.
As AI becomes embedded into day-to-day consulting work, though, the question is no longer whether the industry will change — but how much, and who benefits most from the shift.
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