Opinion AI won’t replace consultants. It will reorient the profession

The first change is visible in the value-creation potential for clients. AI and advanced analytics have expanded the boundaries of possibility. A retail company can use algorithms to identify high-value customers, adjust prices dynamically, or support its sales teams through intelligent learning and commercial models. An automotive manufacturer can deploy AI to forecast demand by region, optimise production schedules, and test consumer response to new models long before launch. Going a step further with agentic AI, these multi-step workflows can now be set up with minimal hand-offs. Yet, with abundant data and LLMs, what matters is context: The right mix of market insight, internal metrics, and institutional learnings supplied to the AI. That’s why many firms are building RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) systems to feed LLMs curated data at the right time, so outputs stay relevant and grounded. As such, the consultant’s task evolves from gathering data to curating context. Clients still need partners who can weigh trade-offs, anticipate risks, and create alignment across an organisation.

The second transformation is unfolding within consulting firms. The rhythm of work is changing. Consultants can now ramp up on unfamiliar industries within hours, begin projects with automated market scans, synthesised research, and first-draft ready hypotheses. Increasingly, consulting firms are developing captive AI models trained on decades of institutional knowledge, case learning, frameworks and methodologies. These internal systems allow consultants to draw from a shared base of wisdom while preserving client confidentiality. The result is more than efficiency. It is a reallocation of time and attention. Consultants spend less effort compiling inputs and more energy engaging with leaders, testing ideas, and guiding decisions. AI enhances capability, but it cannot replace discernment. That is deeply human work.

The third shift belongs to the people entering the profession. The next generation of consultants will work in teams where baseline AI literacy is assumed, but lasting success will depend on skills that machines cannot replicate. Structured problem solving will remain at the core. Equally vital are reasoning and critical-thinking skills, which help consultants question assumptions and validate machine-generated analysis.

Creativity and design thinking will become essential to imagine new solutions. So will resilience and an ownership mindset. The willingness to stay accountable, manage ambiguity, and lead through uncertainty. Strong communication, storytelling, and collaboration skills will differentiate those who can turn ideas into influence. These capabilities become the human edge in a world where AI can analyse but not empathise, compute but not connect.

For professionals moving into consulting from other industries, depth of experience remains invaluable. AI still cannot replicate intuition built over years of navigating markets, customers, and teams. Understanding the pulse of a sector, the timing of an investment cycle, or the subtle shifts in consumer sentiment — these are advantages born of human experience.

The fourth transformation concerns how talent is prepared for this new reality. Business schools, universities, and corporate academies need to evolve from teaching knowledge to teaching ways of thinking. Alongside finance, strategy, and economics must come courses in data interpretation, behavioural science, design thinking, and digital ethics. Learning environments must emphasise experimentation, feedback, and reflection. Students should learn to use AI tools to analyse real-world business, social, or policy problems while also learning to question the limits of those tools.

Consulting has always found its purpose in transition. In India, where economic ambition intersects with institutional complexity, consulting will remain vital — not despite AI, but because of it.

What will endure are the same qualities that have always defined meaningful advice. Curiosity that looks beyond the obvious. Insight that turns data into understanding. Judgment that balances innovation with wisdom. And a human connection that builds the confidence to move forward. They have always mattered. And they always will.

The writer is an associate partner at a global consulting firm