AI tightens entry-level funnel in consulting

Bengaluru: Consulting companies are witnessing a major shift in terms of employment, as Artificial Intelligence is increasingly automating work, leading to job cuts.

Recently, Bloomberg reported that consulting giant McKinsey & Co. has discussed cutting thousands of jobs, and this is part of the company's broader push to automate internal operations using AI. Earlier in November last year, the firm had cut about 200 tech jobs as the company was using AI to automate some positions. HR experts said AI is having a real impact on the consulting workforce, especially in entry-level roles, which are getting the greatest pressure.

"As consulting firms disrupt India’s approximately $10 billion advisory market, AI is increasingly automating work that was traditionally handled by junior staff, such as research, data crunching, benchmarking, first-draft analysis, and presentation development. As a result, companies are becoming more selective about who they hire, where they hire, and how many entry-level roles they need," Randstad Digital MD Milind Shah said.

For many firms, this has emerged as an immediate cost-optimisation lever, making junior roles the most exposed to change. Shah said AI is tightening the entry-level funnel in consulting and accelerating role evolution.

"But it is also creating a sharper distinction between low-value, automatable work and high-impact human contribution. Most of this displacement appears temporary, with new roles emerging in AI strategy, implementation, governance, ethics, and hybrid consulting with AI oversight. Consulting firms and consultants that adapt early will remain relevant; those that rely on legacy role structures will face increasing pressure," he added.

As AI improves consistency and success rates across engagements, consulting firms are rethinking team deployment, engagement pricing, and how value is defined in an AI-enabled delivery model, TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship CEO Nipun Sharma said.

AI is reducing dependence on roles built around repetitive execution. This includes manual research, data collation, basic modelling, documentation, and standardised reporting. "These tasks are increasingly automated or heavily augmented. The real shift is that junior consulting roles will no longer be defined by effort alone. They will require stronger problem-solving, interpretation, and client engagement skills much earlier in a career," Sharma said.

TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship CEO is of the view that there will be selective rationalisation, not widespread layoffs, in the coming years. Consulting firms will hire fewer people for execution-heavy work and more for roles that combine domain expertise with AI fluency. "Headcount growth may slow, but productivity per consultant will rise. Firms that proactively redesign roles and invest in capability building will absorb AI as a growth lever. Those that treat AI as a cost tool alone may face sharper workforce corrections," Sharma added.

Earlier in 2024, Bain & Company laid off about 150 employees. Genius HRTech Limited Chairman and Managing Director R P Yadav said there will be role rationalisation rather than blanket job cuts.

Positions that fail to evolve beyond execution-heavy work may be reduced, while new roles focused on AI governance, transformation, workforce strategy and business impact will grow. Consulting firms will hire fewer generalists and more specialists who can combine domain knowledge with AI fluency. The future workforce will be leaner, sharper and far more skill-intensive, Yadav added.