Kevin O’Leary thinks that consultants’ days are numbered.
The “Shark Tank” investor, who is these days preoccupied with opening a hyperscale AI data center in Utah, said companies he backs are already turning to AI for work they might once have outsourced to consulting firms.
“Even the companies that I invest in that used to use a lot of consultants for very specific vertical situations, like changing retail distribution, or should they keep two tiers of distribution versus three, are first going to AI, which they can do for a lot cheaper,” O’Leary said on a recent episode of “The Founder’s Mindset Podcast.”
These companies, he said, are asking their internal management teams to test those ideas, bypassing the need for traditional consultants altogether.
“This has only been the last 24 months,” he said, noting how quickly he’s seeing the shift unfold.
Over the past few years, consulting firms have raced to reinvent themselves as AI rapidly advances — developing their own internal tools and piloting them to clients, hiring armies of forward-deployed engineers, and cozying up to AI startups across Silicon Valley.
While AI poses a threat to consulting, many of the largest firms also see considerable opportunity in it.
McKinsey says about 40% of its work now comes from AI-related projects. BCG said 20% of its work was AI-related in 2024. Last year, Accenture — which reported earnings this week — consolidated its strategy, consulting, song, technology, and operations services into a single unit organized around AI called “reinvention services.”
These firms are billing clients to help them deploy the technology coming out of Silicon Valley, and are adopting it themselves.
Even if consulting firms survive the AI revolution, though, O’Leary said consulting is a career path that has always had a ceiling. A short stint in the industry has value, he said, especially for young professionals trying to find their footing in the labor market. Anything longer, though, he said, is a red flag.
“One of the things that you could argue is good about consulting is, if you spend less than two years there, and you’re going to search all 11 sectors of the economy to find out where you fit, that makes sense to me,” he said.
In the long term, however, it can lead to stagnation — or worse, a career of “mediocrity.”
“When I see a résumé where someone wants to be a CEO of one of my companies, and has been at a consulting firm for seven years, I just tear that up,” he said.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai might disagree, however. He got his start at McKinsey. So did former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg.
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