Best of LinkedIn: Strategy & Consulting CW 44/45 2026

AI and the consulting business model

• Firms are urged to redesign delivery and business models for AI, not just work faster
• Cheaper AI research shifts consulting value from gathering information to judgment and decision-making
• Usage-based AI pricing raises the question of who pays professional services firms' growing AI bill
• AI may open a new growth curve for consulting rather than end it
• Anthropic entering AI consulting may not threaten the Big Four, whose sector expertise still drives value
• TCS paying US$707 million for Coastal Cloud suggests AI platforms still need human implementers
• AI-enabled managed services could make the middle market a key Big Four and Accenture battleground
• SAP consulting is shifting from capacity to capability across process, S/4HANA, data, integration and AI

Judgment and the next generation of consultants

• A BCG experiment finds AI improves consultant work quality but reduces idea diversity by 41%
• AI polish also cuts accuracy, so judgment needs protecting
• Automating routine junior work risks removing how future leaders develop judgment
• Boards should ask how AI-driven cognitive atrophy threatens future leaders' critical thinking
• Future consultants need judgment, decision-making and data storytelling beyond basic AI proficiency
• AI tools like Claude speed up delivery and free consultants for strategic thinking
• Work design for AI must cover roles, careers, learning and how freed capacity is used

AI value, maturity and governance

• BCG Applied AI Index: nearly half of companies now report measurable value from AI
• Companies scaling AI governance alongside innovation see 3x the ROI, per BCG
• 88% of governed users report productivity gains
• EY: 71% see trust as critical to AI outcomes, yet few have supporting structures
• Deloitte: AI speeds decisions, but only 25% apply it to deeply modernise their businesses
• Only 15% of organisations have reached scaled multi-agent adoption
• KPMG Global CEO Outlook: 79% of CEOs prioritise AI investment
• BCG AI Maturity Matrix 2026 shows more AI Pioneers, with Germany among the AI Contenders

Making AI pay through process and organisation

• BCG's own agentic transformation shows success depends mostly on people and process redesign
• AI cost advantage requires end-to-end process redesign, targeted investment and change-oriented leaders
• Reshaping industrial operations around AI, not single tasks, can lift efficiency by 30 to 50%
• Supply chain leads AI adoption, and end-to-end decision redesign unlocks working capital and EBITDA gains
• Leaders win with a business strategy built on AI, not a separate AI strategy
• Enterprises should design portable intelligence so judgment and controls survive model changes
• 59% of CPG companies lack agentic capabilities as AI shopping agents reshape competition

CEOs, boards and the trust gap

• CEOs overestimate employee trust, and unscripted frontline conversations can close the gap
• BCG CEO Insomnia Index shows easing CEO stress but a growing trust gap with employees
• Boards should enable CEO-led AI transformation through challenge, support and trust
• BCG analysis of 836 corporate failures finds 27% stemmed from breakdowns in stakeholder mutuality
• Strategy fails when organisation design misaligns decision rights, priorities, layers and capabilities
• Strategy execution requires hard choices and singular focus, as the Sitecore CEO's experience shows
• KPMG UK CEO Outlook: CEOs are optimistic about their own growth but wary of the global economy

Geopolitics, energy and resilience

• Deloitte UK CFO Survey: geopolitics is the top risk and cost reduction the top priority
• After the US midterms, leaders expect policy continuity, budget pressure and cautious investment
• Boards should prioritise resilience over prediction as AI, cyber and geopolitical risks interact
• A Minimum Viable Enterprise approach defines what must keep operating during major incidents
• Arctic competition shows industrial competitiveness and national security becoming inseparable
• Sustainability proved durable in 2026, driven by AI power demand, carbon tariffs and energy shocks
• Flexible grid connections can cut data center waits for power to two to four years
• AI build-out financing spreads risk across sponsors, lenders and insurers

The Big Four and firm moves

• The Big Four earned US$220.4 billion in FY25, with Deloitte holding nearly one third
• Big Four India FY26 revenues show technology and data work driving growth
• EY leaders met in Dublin to accelerate the AI-driven transformation of EY Consulting
• EY-Parthenon Europe West added five Partners as AI raises the bar for client value
• The new EY Americas CEO reflected after 100 days on AI opportunity, risk and client value
• A Deloitte documentary series shows consulting shifting from advice to building technology products
• BCG Manila benchmarks Filipino companies against the global Applied AI Index

Thanks to Henrique Drebes, Danny Chehade, Jaclyn Gitlin, Mark S., Samir Khayzaran, Richard Watson, Julia Dhar, Lynlee Brown, Geraldine Prasuhn Rhodes, Marc Beierschoder, Veronique Pauwels, Piotr Stacewicz, Torben Petersen, Irvan Aslam Sahl, Julia Bogdanovsky, Michael Adolf, Mihika Chitranshi, Chaitanya Kaul, Diane Gherson, Christian Kirschniak, Peter Jonathan Jameson, Barbara Martin Coppola, Mick Moloney, Greg Callahan, Ranjit Bawa, Minjee Kim, Alban AUBREE, Jasmeet Gill, Hubertus Meinecke, Harry Goddard, Matthew Sundberg, Will Bible, Matthew Kropp, Nikolaus S. Lang, Robert Derow, Martin Faarborg, Kyle Forrest, James O'Dowd, David Fields, Brett Davis, Constantin M. Gall, Martin Nyrop, Dante D'Egidio, Lance Katigbak, Marek Rozkrut, Aniket Soni, Harshit Sapra, Anthony Cheong, Pratik Yadav, Dr. Andrej Levin, Steve Mills, Jonathan Holt, Lisa Heneghan, Dan Martines, Nitin Mittal, Patrick Dupoux, Lorenzo Positano, Julie Bedard, Andres Garro, Jim Rowan, Sylvain Duranton, Ted Moynihan, Scott McCowan, Shawn Smith, Sundhar G. Sekhar, Debapratim De, Nicolai Andersen, Rachel Watts, Paul Cowan and Ana Kreacic and everyone else who contributed insights to this edition.

Find the full list of posts and voices on LinkedIn. linkedin.com/pulse/best-linkedin-cw-44-45-strategy-consulting-thomas-allgeyer-5bype/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_creator_profile_all_content_view%3Bf4rMeszERB67ZZp04I%2BRkA%3D%3D