Finally, consultants are becoming less and less generalistic. Whereas consultants used to work 4 to 5 years before actually specializing, now they will do so after 2 years. Instead of remaining at the level of strategic advisor, the consultancy firm has more and more opportunities to become a business creation partner on specific projects. Whether it's by acquiring potential threats or hiring people with different skills, large consulting firms are likely to remain in business for the foreseeable future.
The unique approach of traditional consulting is a model woefully inadequate for any company that strives to be genuinely innovative. In addition, since machines will collect and analyze a large amount of data, which is one of the main value propositions of the consultants mentioned above, the duration of consulting projects is likely to be reduced in the future. Customers can no longer afford to waste time and money on junior consultants who process data and try to catch up with their businesses. Major consulting firms have understood that their innovation frameworks are often too far from what companies need to grow today.
It is vital that consulting takes full advantage of the latest advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning so that their research and information generation processes are faster and more accurate, while young consultants can do more meaningful work. So should you, as a management consultant, be concerned about this new trend of using AI in consulting? Well, if AI can collect and analyze data in seconds and provide recommendations almost instantly, what value can it bring? You see, executives who hire consultants are short on time and want fast results. For example, the nature of consulting work has always involved spending a lot of time away from the office at the client's premises, but it's not sustainable to try to move this part of the work entirely to the Internet; building face-to-face relationships with clients will continue to be an important aspect of what consultancies do. Ultimately, the real value that consultancies must offer is to allow clients greater access to their experience and knowledge in the field, either through the greater participation of senior partners and industry specialists or through an open consulting ecosystem and a network of associations.
Establishing and encouraging complementary open consulting partnerships must be a key priority for modern consulting. In general, the industry has helped clients to deal with these transformations through an optimal combination of patented frameworks, intellectual property, tools and a team of consultants trained with in-house consulting methodologies. If the consultant only provides advice, then, despite statements to the contrary, the consultant does not actually share the same business risks and rewards as the client.
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