Best of Linkedin: Strategy & Consulting CW 42/ 43

The period was defined by a gap between AI adoption and AI earnings. Surveys from BCG and McKinsey show nearly half of companies now report measurable AI value, yet profit impact, governance and organizational redesign trail adoption. Consulting firms are applying the same test to themselves, as metered AI costs, new entrants backed by Anthropic and private equity, and outcome based pricing reshape their own economics.

Date

October 29, 2026

Strategy & Consulting

Thomas Allgeyer

Methodology: Every two weeks we collect most relevant posts on LinkedIn for selected topics and create an overall summary only based on these posts. If you´re interested in the single posts behind, you can find them here: https://linktr.ee/thomasallgeyer. Have a great read!

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AI value and the profit gap

Nearly 50% of companies now generate measurable AI value, per BCG
Strategic clarity plus applied AI captures five times the value
Future built firms deliver 2.3 times the shareholder return of laggards
Laggards take 17 months to reach P&L impact, leaders 11
AI spending has tripled to 3.3% of revenue
Agentic AI's share of AI value rose from 17% to 22%
80% of leaders see productivity gains, only 37% see EBIT impact

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AI readiness across economies and sectors

Nearly all of 75+ economies improved on BCG's AI Maturity Matrix
Local capability matters more than owning frontier models
Gulf confidence in AI government services is 39 points above average
In ports, 44% are scaling AI but only 4% show earnings impact
96% of CMOs call AI transformation underway, 42% still use it as an assistant

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AI operating models and the technology function

The tech function is becoming a strategic partner to the C-suite
BCG advises AI squads inside business units and fewer management layers
BCG's 70-20-10 model puts 70% of effort on people and process
The number of AI pilots says little about readiness
40% of firms above $1B in revenue are scaling agents, against 22% of smaller firms
McKinsey sees potential for more and higher paying jobs by 2035
Actuarial AI is about redeploying capacity, not cutting actuaries

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Agentic AI in functions and industries

Agentic AI turns procurement signals into timely negotiations
Procurement staff move from process executors to process governors
McKinsey says CPG should measure agentic AI in growth, not time saved
Deloitte and NZHL cut client review preparation time by 80%
In insurance, AI complements core platforms rather than replacing them
A marketing led AI reinvention cut routine work time by up to 70%
PA Consulting moderated eight Nordic Fintech Week roundtables

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AI governance, trust and risk

EY finds AI governance confidence lagging adoption
42% expect agents to hold decision authority by 2030, only 5% have the controls
Third party risk needs AI visibility, trigger based monitoring and governance first
Embedded AI evaluators need binding rules on access and independence
Open weights models lag closed ones by only three to seven months
Governance, not restriction, protects judgment and relationships

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The consulting industry's own economics

84.8% of firms save time with AI, only 29.9% generate revenue
Accenture's $29 monthly Claude cap makes AI cost allocation explicit
Anthropic is reported to be backing a European AI consultancy with Hg
Faster market analysis means little if clients produce it themselves
Agentic CRM creates new graduate skills needs rather than fewer hires
Deloitte Israel sees the line between product and service closing

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Strategy and the CEO agenda

McKinsey names six strategy roles a CEO cannot delegate
The ACID method pressure tests an existing strategy
McKinsey's CFO agenda names four structural shifts to 2027 and beyond
Language silos drive 40% more inefficiencies and 32% more costs

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Resilience, geopolitics and energy

EY defines the Minimum Viable Enterprise as the commitments to keep delivering
Leading teams revisit enterprise risk from first principles
Climate Week NYC framed climate as a competitiveness issue
63% of Geostrategists report better political risk response, against 47% of Observers
Fragmentation lifts European gas prices 10 to 15% by 2035, against 0 to 5% in the US
Growth holds at 3.1% but 32 economies generate 95% of it
Permitting speed, not capital, is the usual infrastructure constraint

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