(Opinion) AI Will Not Replace Consulting: It Will Supercharge It
Written by Phoebe Keates, Enterprise Account Director, Choir Digital
As OpenAI’s entry into consulting reignites the “consulting is dead” debate, I’ve spent the past two weeks wrestling with what that means for us as we build Choir Digital. Here’s my raw, honest, take.
AI will not replace consultants. It will expose the pretenders and reward the firms that can actually deliver sustained business impact.
The hype around artificial intelligence is deafening. Depending on the day, AI is described as either an existential threat or the dawn of a new golden era.
Consulting is a $400 billion global industry, so it is no surprise the market sat up and paid attention to the OpenAI announcement. But while the headlines shout disruption, boardrooms are worried about something else entirely.
According to a recent AFR article, more than half of the ASX 200 cite workforce disruption and cultural change as their top AI risks, with compliance and governance close behind.
The rhetoric is bold. The reality is more complex.
The Existential Question
Earlier this year, David Pereira of NTT Data described AI as both a boon and a “potential existential threat” to consultants (Fortune). His firm has already started training every employee in AI, reshaping roles, and reconfiguring its workforce to be future-ready.
NTT Data’s view is clear: this is not about replacing people; it is about equipping them. The firms that thrive will be those that treat talent and cultural transformation as core work streams, not side projects.
OpenAI’s Consulting Play and Why Consulting Will Not Die
Here is the bigger point: in 2025, access is table stakes. AI deployment is the game. And the consultants who know how to deliver it will define the winners.
So no, I don’t believe that OpenAI is killing consulting. If anything, it proves why consulting matters more than ever.
For anyone who has read books like When McKinsey Comes to Town, The Lords of Strategy, or The Big Con, it is obvious that consultants hold a special place in the CEO playbook. They provide cover for tough decisions, bring human centricity to change, and draw on lived experience that no algorithm can replicate.
I do not see a world, at least in my lifetime, where a CEO will sit in front of a chatbot to redesign their organisation. They will still gather in boardrooms, trade corporate war stories, and work through hard conversations face-to-face. The difference is that AI will be in the room too. It will sharpen analysis, elevate framing, and accelerate decision-making.
That is where the magic will happen: when humans partner with AI to be brilliant.
A Familiar Story
The internet’s hype marshals want us to believe this is brand new. It is not. Executives once argued over whether email was a distraction, whether the internet was relevant to business, and whether cloud computing could ever be trusted. Today, no boardroom could operate without any of them.
Funny how quickly fads become foundations. AI is on the same trajectory.
How the Consulting Model Is Changing
For decades, consulting has relied on the “pyramid”: armies of junior consultants doing research, modelling, and slides to support a small tier of senior partners. AI is now dismantling that structure. Research shows that firms like McKinsey (with its AI assistant Lilli), BCG (Deckster), and Bain (Sage) are already using AI to replace large chunks of junior work.
A new model is emerging, what HBR calls the consulting obelisk. It is leaner, more senior-heavy, and built around three critical human roles:
AI facilitators: Early-career consultants fluent in AI tools and workflows.
Engagement architects: Mid-level leaders who translate AI outputs into strategy and orchestrate delivery.
Client leaders: Senior partners who stay close to executives and guide them through disruption.
This evolution does not kill consulting. It forces firms to strip out fluff and prove their value with sharper thinking, faster delivery, and genuine human judgment.
Where Leaders Should Start
The starting point is not just to “use AI before your competitors.” It is recognising that AI is not a purely technical challenge. It is an organisational and cultural one.
Good consultants help leaders approach AI as a multi-pronged transformation:
Embedding AI into workflows where it delivers real business value.
Building the human capability to adopt and scale it responsibly.
Navigating the stakeholder, governance, and ethical dimensions that make-or-break trust.
The firms that add value in this environment are those that combine technical fluency, stakeholder sensitivity, and execution discipline.
That is why we founded Choir Digital: to pull organisations out of “pilot purgatory,” deploy AI against strategic priorities, and build lasting capability beyond the project window.
And yes, we do it without drowning clients in 200-slide decks.
My Final Point
AI will not kill consulting. It will kill lazy slide-makers, strip out the fluff, and supercharge the firms that deliver real impact.
That is the future we are building at Choir Digital. And it is absolutely worth getting out of bed for.