AI Adoption Drives New Strategy Skills
A recent discussion with executives from Ally Financial and Avery Dennison highlighted the strategic skills needed to scale AI responsibly. Ally Financial detailed its 18-month beta for "Ally AI," which prioritized internal use cases and a human-in-the-loop model, while Avery Dennison balanced core projects with a venture-style fund for experimentation. The conversation underscored that success depends on change management, organizational buy-in, and integrating risk and compliance teams early.
Avery Dennison's AI strategy emphasizes a "culture-first" approach, engaging over 250 executives and 1,000 employees in more than 20 AI pilot projects in 2024. One such pilot, applying AI to predictive maintenance in an Indian plant, successfully cut unplanned downtime by 25%, directly improving operational schedules and lowering maintenance costs. Ally Financial's "Ally.ai" platform, developed over 18 months, is now accessible to its 10,000+ employees after an initial rollout to 2,200 teammates. An early, high-impact use case was summarizing customer service calls, which now handles tens of thousands of calls weekly and has reduced the post-call effort for associates by 30%, with a target of 50%. To ensure responsible deployment, Ally became the first U.S. bank member of the Responsible AI Institute. The rise of AI is directly reshaping core operational improvement methodologies central to consulting. AI enhances Lean management by automating repetitive tasks and improves Six Sigma by using advanced data analysis to find the root causes of defects. This allows consultants to move beyond manual analysis to focus on data-driven, continuous improvement and predictive process optimization. For enterprise strategy, AI is shifting the focus from rearview analysis to generating forward-looking scenarios based on weak signals and emerging trends. A recent study of 700 senior executives revealed that 33% believe they need to rethink their entire approach to strategic planning due to AI's capabilities. This creates a demand for consultants who can help leaders use AI to explore alternative futures and build more resilient strategies. This technological shift is redefining the consultant's role, demanding a blend of AI-driven insights and uniquely human skills. While AI can automate research and data analysis, it cannot manage stakeholder politics, define ambiguous problems, or lead organizational change. As a result, firms are prioritizing skills like structured thinking, hypothesis development, and strategic judgment to validate and refine AI-generated outputs. Boutique consulting firms are actively recruiting for strategy and operations roles that bridge high-level strategy with technical AI execution. These roles require a passion for both strategic planning and operational delivery, moving beyond standard project work to help clients implement AI-driven transformations. The focus is on creating tangible value, whether through cost reduction, efficiency gains, or identifying new revenue opportunities with AI.
