McKinsey, BCG reshape consulting

McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group and the Big Four are changing how consulting work is produced, sold and taught as AI tools move from sidecar productivity aids into the center of client delivery. Business Insider reported on May 15 that firms including McKinsey, PwC, Deloitte, BCG, KPMG, Accenture, EY and IBM are rewiring staffing, training and promotion around AI-enabled work. (businessinsider.com) Company statements and product pages show the same pattern: firms are packaging proprietary platforms, managed services and agent-based tools as part of the core offer to clients rather than as add-ons. (bcg.com) McKinsey’s internal platform Lilli and BCG’s revenue mix offer two of the clearest public markers. (ey.com) McKinsey said Lilli, rolled out firmwide in July 2023, is used by 72% of the firm and handles more than 500,000 prompts a month, with users reporting up to 30% time savings in searching and synthesizing knowledge. BCG said on April 23 that tech- and AI-focused services now represent more than 40% of total revenue, after the firm posted $14.4 billion in 2025 revenue. ### How are the biggest firms changing day-to-day consulting work? McKinsey said Lilli gives consultants access to the firm’s knowledge base and expert network in seconds rather than through the older process of manual research and internal networking. (businessinsider.com) In a separate account, McKinsey said the tool was built to give staff a secure internal way to use large language models and draw on more than 100,000 documents and transcripts. IBM Consulting is making a similar shift toward asset-based delivery. IBM said its Enterprise Advantage service, announced in January and detailed again on May 4, is designed to help clients scale governed agentic AI without building the platform themselves. (mckinsey.com) ### What do the firms say they are selling now? BCG said its AI strategy work is aimed at reimagining processes, fostering adoption and building the governance and roles needed to deploy AI at scale. In January 2025 research, BCG said clients were moving from AI experimentation toward profit and measurable business results, and in 2026 it said companies getting the most value from AI also run the most ambitious upskilling programs. (mckinsey.com) PwC has framed the offer in similar terms. PwC said its “Agent Powered Performance” launch in May 2025 was built to help companies find inefficiencies, act faster and improve results without a full systems overhaul, while its managed-services business says clients are using outside specialists and technology to close capability gaps. (ibm.com) ### Where does training fit into the new model? Accenture said in January 2024 that it launched an on-demand generative AI learning program with Stanford Online content to train business and technology leaders. In separate AI services material, Accenture says generative AI requires companies to reshape the workforce and reinvent work, not just install new software. (bcg.com) EY is also tying delivery to new operating structures. EY said in November 2025 that its EY.ai Tax Agent Factory combines methodology, operating model and technology strategy so tax teams and clients can design, build, train, deploy and manage AI agents at scale. (pwc.com) EY’s Tax Labs page says clients can prototype and co-create tax solutions with EY professionals. ### What does that mean for smaller consulting firms? KPMG’s March 31 survey said execution is becoming the differentiator as companies move from experimentation to large-scale AI production and project average AI spending of $207 million over the next 12 months. (newsroom.accenture.com) That public language from a Big Four firm matches the broader industry push toward implementation, governance and managed delivery rather than slide-deck strategy alone. Business Insider reported that the change raises the bar for boutiques, which now need to show either deeper domain expertise or hands-on implementation capability to compete with larger firms bundling AI tools into delivery. That conclusion is consistent with how the largest firms are publicly describing their offers, though the competitive effect on boutiques remains an inference from those statements and BI’s reporting. (ey.com) ### Which public milestones come next? IBM held Think 2026 on May 5 and used the event to unveil new orchestration and operations products tied to what it called an AI operating model. EY’s Tax.Tech 2026 webcast series, published last week, is another near-term venue where the firm is laying out how artificial intelligence will shape tax technology and transformation. (kpmg.com) BCG’s next revenue update and additional firm disclosures on training, hiring and product adoption will offer the next hard numbers on how far the consulting model is moving toward AI-led delivery. McKinsey’s Lilli usage figures, BCG’s revenue mix and IBM’s asset-based launches are the clearest verified markers so far. (businessinsider.com) (mckinsey.com) (newsroom.ibm.com)