AI in focus: what boutique consultancies need to know 

The AI rocket has launched, reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace. For boutique consultancies, this transformation presents both a challenge and an opportunity.  

Ignoring the rise of AI is not an option; it’s happening with or without you. To remain competitive, consultancies must embrace this technology strategically and effectively. 

According to Consultancy BenchPress, 91% of boutique consultancies admit they’re not leveraging AI effectively, leaving them vulnerable as larger firms charge ahead. The Big Four and other management consultancies have made their intentions clear, making multi-billion-dollar investments in AI, training thousands of staff and developing custom generative AI (GenAI) platforms to enhance productivity and innovation. 

Marc Jantzen, Founder of The Consultancy Growth Network emphasises, “The consultancy industry is at the forefront of a wave of transformation that will redefine jobs and service models over the next three to five years.”  

The question isn’t whether to adopt GenAI, but how to do so intelligently and successfully.  

If you’re running a boutique consultancy and wondering how to navigate this transformative technology, The Consultancy Growth Network is here to provide insights and support. We’ve provided our members with access to top GenAI experts and guidance specifically tailored to the needs of consulting firms.  

Read on to discover how to achieve your goals and maximise GenAI’s potential. 

The impact of AI on the consulting industry 

GenAI will have a profound impact in all areas of your boutique consulting business. A point that Umbar Shakir, former Chief AI Strategy Officer at Havas makes clear, “The AI rocket has left the base station.”

“Even if you are not actively using AI, your people will be and that will become tough to manage without a plan. What’s more, if you’re not immersed in using AI, you’re not in a good position to advise your clients on it – and make no mistake, your clients are looking to you for leadership.” 

The impact of GenAI will be felt across all consulting business areas. 

Adapting to these changes isn’t optional – it’s essential for staying competitive.  

• Internal efficiency: enhancing the way we handle day-to-day tasks, streamlining operations and improving productivity. 
• Service offerings: transforming the value we deliver to clients and redefining our propositions.
• Client relationships: guiding clients as they increasingly ask, “How will you be using AI?”, with the risk of losing projects or even being replaced on existing ones if you fall behind. 
• New opportunities: unlocking entirely new value propositions and business lines driven by AI capabilities. 

How consultancies are embracing AI 

1. Creating content and personalising it
2. Unlocking knowledge and data insights 
3. Enhancing user experience and customer experience 
4. Automating processes, tasks and workflows

AI is opening access and democratising processes that were previously the domain for a few

At a recent event hosted by The Consultancy Growth Network, Simon highlighted practical examples of uses of GenAI, such as: 

• Google’s NotebookLM which summarises and provides structured data and insights from hundreds of pages of reports 
• Perplexity, a conversational search engine that gives real-time answers to any questions 
• PolyAI which provides a natural, customised voice assistant for customer service support. 

Simon explained that AI is opening access and democratising processes that were previously the domain for a few. For example, computer coding based on natural word prompts (which will have a profound impact for IT consultancies), and the easy analysis and interpretation of reams of data by uploading spreadsheets into ChatGPT. 

Brand new GenAI tools are emerging every day, such as podcast creation with just a few prompts, transforming content with authentic exchanges between ‘robot’ interviewers.  

Here are some of Marc’s tips on how to communicate with GenAI to get the best quality output. 

• Ask AI to explain its ‘chain of thought’ to help guide it to provide a quality answer 
• Give AI a persona or a role to take on, such as ‘you are a consultant in the IT sector’ 
• Provide AI with positive instructions, such as ‘be concise’ instead of ‘don’t be verbose’ 
• Don’t ask leading questions – you will get inaccurate results 
• Give AI examples and files to match the style and tone (and to extract the knowledge you want it to use) 
• Be polite and you will get a more helpful response (it’s true!) 

Above all, Marc points out, this is an iterative process. And remember, GenAI doesn’t care if it gets things wrong (or ‘hallucinates’).  

As Simon Greenman points out, the possibilities for GenAI are endless, but “There is no manual.”   

Overcoming GenAI challenges in consultancies 

Investment and adoption 

As we have seen, GenAI has the potential to make the workplace more efficient and it can help to improve productivity. Or, as Umbar Shakir says, “It’s about craft versus graft. The real value of consulting lies in the creativity of the solutions we bring to clients. AI handles the graft, freeing us to focus on the craft.” 

However, licenses don’t come cheap and like with any technology, you need a strategic approach to time, investment and implementation.  

To overcome some of the early bumps in adopting GenAI for your business, Umbar Shakir suggests talking openly to others in your business and asking some key questions. 

AI handles the graft, freeing us to focus on the craft

• What is the pain in your business that you are trying to solve?  
• How mature is your business?  
• How would you use AI within your business? 
• What could you automate?  
• How much are you willing to invest?
• Can you identify in your teams who are the early adopters (the evangelists)? Who are the healthy fact-checkers? And who are the cynics? How can you use them? 

IP and privacy 

You can be sure that your consultants are already using GenAI tools like Copilot, Gemini and ChatGPT – but how well is that usage understood and harnessed?  

It’s crucial to get ahead by establishing a clear GenAI policy if you don’t already have one in place. A well-crafted internal policy promotes proper use while fostering a culture of learning. 

Proper training for your teams is essential to ensure the effective use of GenAI tools – and to avoid misuse. Remember, what you input into GenAI tools can be used and may end up in the public domain. If you are playing with them, you are training them on your data.  

Ready to unleash GenAI’s potential in your consultancy?  

Through 2025 we are hosting a series of online workshops for owners and leaders of consultancies that will help them use GenAI tools for their business, growth and client delivery. Speak to Oli to register your interest in attending as a free trial. 

This is just one example of The Consultancy Growth Network grabbing hold of a topic, bringing experts together, and helping ambitious consultancies to devise a strategy to tackle challenges together. 

Here’s what our members say 

Comments from attendees at our Annual Summit, in which we discussed AI and it’s impact on consultancies.