AI’s impact on management consulting: Is the role of the consultant becoming obsolete?

Insights on the consulting value chain in the era of intelligent enterprise transformation

Over the past year, many articles have been published around the question of AI’s impact on consulting and whether the industry might become obsolete. The deeper story is worthy of reflection—that is, what is the purpose of consulting and its related disciplines in this era of intelligent enterprise transformation. What do organizations need to consider as AI redefines consulting and the value it brings?

Key components of the consulting value chain

Strategic or management consulting is the highest level of advisory service, helping executives and boards define an organization’s direction, positioning, and ambition and addressing the “what-to-do” questions at the most critical business inflection points. Rooted in market analysis, competitive dynamics, and strategic foresight, it helps organizations create long-term value and sustainable advantage.

This type of advisory service is not to be mistaken for business consulting. As the name suggests, business consulting focuses on improving an organization's performance, efficiency, and growth by analyzing existing challenges and developing pragmatic, actionable plans for improvement. If we map this to the manufacturing sector— my home industry—business consulting spans the primary manufacturing value chain, from R&D and engineering, to production and the supply chain, to the aftermarket with its maintenance, repair, and overhaul dimensions.

Next comes the discipline of systems integration. Here strategy and planning meet their litmus test; does reality demonstrate what theory has promised? Systems integration brings vision to life in complex legacy landscapes, requiring skilled industry and technology consultants who understand both the architecture and the art of making systems truly work.

Together, these disciplines form the consulting value chain, a continuum that supports leaders from strategy through execution. 

How AI is transforming the consulting value chain

It is this continuum—from strategy to execution—that defines the true consulting value chain. Against this backdrop, AI does not simply disrupt consulting; it redefines how each link in this chain operates and connects.

Artificial intelligence is not just a new technology layer; it is a systemic force impacting the entire value chain, from strategic foresight and operational design to delivery and optimization. It transforms how organizations create value through consulting. 

This shift makes one thing clear; organizations can no longer view consulting as a standalone advisory function. Instead, it must evolve into an integrated component of the enterprise value chain, orchestrating how intelligence, both human and artificial, flows through their business processes.

New ways consulting can generate value with AI 

AI’s power lies not in isolation but in symbiosis. It is part of a data-driven enterprise where data strategy, governance, and management form the foundation. Without the right data backbone, AI becomes a black box; with it, AI becomes a true co-pilot.

If AI algorithms can now deliver in seconds what once required weeks of research and analysis, how can consultants continue to add value for organizations? The answer lies in orchestration.

AI can predict, recommend, and simulate, but it cannot define purpose. Consultants remain the architects of alignment, ensuring that technology serves strategic intent, not the other way around. Their value to organizations now lies in embedding intelligence where it truly matters across the consulting value chain, balancing automation with strategic impact.

Consultants of the future do not just interpret change; they design ecosystems that connect human creativity, machine intelligence, and business purpose.

With AI’s ability to generate insights at unprecedented speed, the notion of “value” in consulting is changing. Traditional deliverables—reports, frameworks, and static analyses—are increasingly insufficient. In their place, emerge living, adaptive models that learn, adjust, and evolve in real time.

In light of these changes, one-time recommendations are no longer sufficient for organizations; they need and expect continuously updated intelligence that moves at the pace of their markets. In this environment, consulting must redefine its outcomes: from knowledge transfer to continuous enablement, ensuring organizations can sustain decision intelligence long after the consultant has left the room.

The risk of AI: Safeguarding human intelligence

The most profound risk of this new era is not technological obsolescence—it is human complacency. As AI systems grow increasingly capable, the danger lies in outsourcing thinking itself. If organizations—and their consultants—relinquish critical faculties, we risk creating an “idiocracy” where semi-intelligent machines operate efficiently but without wisdom, and where human intellect atrophies from lack of use.

Consulting’s purpose, therefore, becomes not only to integrate AI responsibly for organizations but also to safeguard the human dimension of intelligence—curiosity, judgment, ethics, and empathy. These are not peripheral skills; instead they are what keep enterprises truly intelligent.

Core consulting capabilities in an AI-first world

To continue delivering value, consulting must evolve from offering structured analysis to engineering adaptive intelligence across the enterprise. This requires helping organizations to:

• Integrate AI and data strategy into every layer of the consulting value chain
• Design business models and processes where humans and machines co-create value
• Develop talent that combines technical literacy with ethical foresight and creative problem-solving
• Shift from knowledge delivery to capability building, ensuring clients own and evolve their AI-driven systems.

This is not the end of consulting; it is its reinvention.

The question is no longer whether AI will replace consultants. The real question is how will consulting redefine itself to stay indispensable within the intelligent, data-driven enterprise?

In today’s AI-driven world, organizations need consultants who do not merely advise or implement, but also orchestrate intelligence across the consulting value chain. This ensures that human and artificial cognition work together to create value with purpose and trust.

CGI is working with organizations across the globe to integrate and augment consulting services with responsible, outcome-driven AI. Learn more about our work, including our AI advisory services. Also, contact me for further discussion.