How consultants are secretly being replaced by AI

If you're reading this during a "bathroom break" from another pointless client call, this one's for you.

I spent 10 years at Accenture and Deloitte watching brilliant people slowly lose their souls to billable hours and endless PowerPoints.

But here's what's about to make it infinitely worse:

You're not just burning out anymore. You're being phased out.

📡 What Just Happened (And Why You Should Care)

McKinsey launches "Lilli" — an internal AI tool that aggregates more than 100,000 documents and is now used by 70% of McKinsey employees up to 17 times per week.

It can scan thousands of documents in seconds, delivering the best of the firm's knowledge to clients.

Translation: The firm's intellectual property just became code.

BCG followed suit. BCG is now generating $2.7bn from AI services with their 3,000-strong tech division, while hiring 1,000 new staffers specifically for AI work as they advise corporations like L'Oréal, BMW, and IBM on AI adoption.

Now even mid-tier firms are building AI systems that replace junior-to-mid level consulting work.

As one former BCGer told me: "I made thousands of slides... but I never saw what happened to my recommendations. Turns out, neither did the client. They just needed the analysis — which AI now does in minutes."

🔥 The Numbers Don't Lie

• 52% of strategy firms report AI reducing billable hours

• Average project scope down 31% since 2024

• Client budgets shifting from "consulting fees" to "AI implementation"

Your client just discovered they can get competitive intelligence instantly instead of waiting 2 weeks for your deck.

The brutal reality: AI doesn't need to replace all of you. Just enough of you that your client starts asking: "Why are we still paying this much?"

💰 Meanwhile, Smart Consultants Are Getting Rich

While you're stuck in the golden handcuffs, former Big 4 consultants are quietly building $350K+ businesses:

Another example: My friend Jake turned his "brand audit" service into an automated system. Instead of charging $5K per audit, he now charges $500/month for unlimited audits. Same profit, 10% of the work.

The difference? He owns the system instead of being part of someone else's.

🛠 The "Audit to Asset" System

Here's the exact 3-step process I use to turn consulting knowledge into scalable income:

Step 1: Extract
Pick one repeatable task you do manually (competitor analysis, process audit, market research)

Step 2: Systemize
Use AI to gather data + generate insights (Claude for research, ChatGPT for analysis, Zapier for automation)

Step 3: Package
Turn it into a plug-and-play asset (interactive dashboard, template library, or automated report)

Real example: I systemized my competitive analysis process. What used to take 20 hours of manual work now takes 2 hours to set up and runs automatically. Clients pay monthly instead of per project.

🧠 Why You're Still Stuck (And How to Break Free)

Let's be brutally honest about why consultants stay trapped:

🔒 Golden Handcuffs — The salary and prestige feel impossible to leave
😰 Identity Crisis — "Who am I without McKinsey on my LinkedIn?"
🧮 Analysis Paralysis — You research every exit option but never pick one
💸 Lifestyle Inflation — The $200K salary funds a lifestyle that feels "necessary"

But here's what consulting taught you that most entrepreneurs never learn:

• How to identify and solve complex problems systematically

• How to communicate value to C-suite executives

• How to build frameworks that work across industries

• How to think strategically about business systems

You already have the skills. You just need to redirect them toward building your own asset instead of someone else's.

⚡ The Window is Closing

Every month you wait, AI gets better at doing what you do manually.

Every month you stay, the golden handcuffs get tighter.

Every month you delay, another former colleague launches their own $300K+ practice.

The consultants winning right now aren't the smartest ones. They're the ones who saw this shift coming and acted 6 months ago.

🚪 Ready to Build Your Exit Strategy?

Join 450+ consultants inside the Easy AI Playbook Community who are building automated systems that replace traditional consulting work — without endless calls, difficult clients, or 70-hour weeks.

Want the full step-by-step breakdown of how I built a $5K system from my old consulting work? 👉 Watch the Consultant Exit Blueprint

P.S. That analysis paralysis that's kept you researching "exit strategies" for months? It's the same skill that will make you incredibly successful once you finally choose a path and commit to it.

P.P.S The question isn't whether you have what it takes.
The question is whether you'll act before AI makes the choice for you.

👉 Watch the Consultant Exit Blueprint

– San

Former Accenture & Deloitte consultant who chose freedom over golden handcuffs