Future of Management and IT Consulting in the Era of AI

Management consulting is one of the best-established professional services in the global business arena. Business consultants offer their subject-matter expertise and competencies in general and strategic management, marketing, HRM, operations management, and the relatively new aspect of digital operations.  

As the business world has massively gone online, the IT consulting area of the consulting industry has been gaining ever-growing importance in recent years. The massive growth of demand for IT consulting also results from the COVID-19-related forced digitalization of many services.  

Therefore, humanity is much more digital today than it used to be only a couple of years ago, and businesses have to include this reality in their business growth equations. This is where IT consulting comes in handy. Yet, with the advent of generative AI, the destiny of human IT consulting has become fuzzy and undecided. Will human consultants withstand the competition with faster and cheaper AI tools? Is AI a threat or a strategic supplement for the traditional IT consulting industry?

This article offers insights into the future of the management and IT consulting industry amid the rising AI adoption shared by the founder and CEO of  AK Consulting, Artyom Kravchenko.

How Does AI Disrupt IT Consulting?

AI has made waves in the global consulting industry because it has introduced more efficient and accurate methods for resolving complex business issues. What’s more, it is a cost-effective tool that may bring down the data analytics and consulting budget for a business of any scale and size. That’s why many consulting firms fear that AI tools will replace humans in terms of the ability to deliver accurate market analysis and competitive intelligence insights faster and cheaper than human experts do.

Yet, the worries of IT firms are largely ungrounded, according to Artyom Kravchenko, who sees AI as a strategic helper rather than a substitute for human consulting services. He believes that AI-driven tools and platforms offer a unique leverage to consulting firms that may enable faster and more precise service delivery. By means of embracing AI as a consulting aid, IT firms may redefine their value proposition and achieve a brand-new level of service quality.  

What AI Trends Shape the Future of IT Consulting?  

With AI penetrating into all spheres of human activity today, one can hardly ignore its potential in the IT consulting industry. Here are a couple of notable trends that will shape the future of consulting and transform consulting services.  

#1 – AI Augmentation of Human Insight  

The advent of Gen AI has taken the productivity of consulting one step further, as this technology removes the need for complex decision model engineering and testing before it can deliver valuable analytical insights. AI tools are equipped with advanced data processing algorithms that make big data analysis simple and user-friendly, even for technology laypersons. Due to this advantage, IT consulting firms may integrate a variety of AI tools in various aspects of their consulting activities without extensive staff training or full-size tech department hiring.  

#2 – Operational Improvements  

The integration of AI tools may aid IT consulting businesses and their clients in terms of operational cost reduction. AI technologies do a great job of automating administrative tasks and streamlining research activities. Therefore, IT consultants may focus on higher-order analytical activities to deliver optimal services and fuel the client’s business growth. IT consulting firms may also advise their clients on the right technology stack for taking advantage of AI resources for operational advancements, resource optimization, and operational cost reduction.  

#3 – Data Analysis and Insights  

AI tools are game changers in terms of big data analysis. Their unique capacity to process large masses of data and deliver actionable insights based on carefully formulated prompts can significantly speed up the consultants’ work. However, the AI algorithm can’t make sense of the patterns and trends; it may only single them out of the bid data sets, and the rest is human work. That’s why AI may aid the IT consulting staff in real-time data analysis, but only a human consultant can translate its conclusions into valuable strategic decisions for businesses.  

Will AI Replace Human Consultants?  

While some see the advent and quick adoption of AI as a threat to the traditional consulting industry, many forward-looking businesses are already incorporating it into their service offerings. According to Mr. Kravchenko, AK Consulting experts view AI as a powerful tool for enhancing and augmenting their services. The strategic benefits that AI offers in the field of IT consulting include:  

• Analysis of vast amounts of data.
• Repetitive, manual task automation.
• Valuable, data-driven insights for decision-making.

Based on these helpful additions to the IT consulting service that AI provides, businesses enjoy better efficiency and real-time recommendations based on advanced industry data analytics. These recommendations and insights can streamline business efforts and drive companies to use IT consulting services for success.  

One thing that all AI users, including IT consulting firms, have to keep in mind is the unavoidable drawback that most modern AI models possess. It’s referred to as AI hallucination – the AI algorithm’s tendency to make up data it doesn’t have and make it look believable. Therefore, even if AI serves your business goals well and delivers actionable data insights, all facts should be double-checked to avoid the awkward moment of advising nonsense to clients.  

IT Consulting Can Help You Embrace the Power of AI  

While AI is indeed a new and largely unexplored technology, it is perceived as a threat and as a unique advantage, depending on how one uses it. Quick AI progress will indisputably affect all industries in the coming years, with AI algorithms replacing humans in many business niches and supplementing human work in some others.  

Therefore, the relevance of IT consulting services in the modern era of generative AI depends on how well they embrace this innovative technology and make it serve their clients. AK Consulting experts, for instance, employ advanced AI algorithms and data analytics to ensure their clients get the latest data-backed business insights and make data-driven decisions.

This way, AK Consulting makes sure that AI technology and human expertise go hand in hand to deliver the best business outcomes and guarantee a significant competitive advantage to tech-driven businesses. AK Consulting offers a list of services for business owners to choose from, depending on their particular business needs.

This includes; business and marketing plan preparation, corporate strategy development, IT consulting services, training and workshops for entry-level to senior employees.

Artyom Kravchenko is a founder of AK Consulting who has extensive experience in marketing, business development, corporate strategy and personnel development, including a managerial position with British American Tobacco and a finance position with Procter and Gamble. Artyom is a member of elite national business societies, has publications in the fields of management, strategy and technology, and has an MBA degree with concentrations in Finance and Marketing.