AI is now everyone’s business 

Since the advent of the internet, no modern technology is impacting work and people more profoundly than AI. For consulting businesses, it has the potential to transform our organisations and how we consult, drastically changing the end-to-end client journey.  

Despite this, only 9% of boutique consultancies are using AI successfully. Research by The Consultancy Growth Network¹ shows that 18% of consultancies have “No plans to use AI yet” and 11% say “We don’t know where to start”. 

Meanwhile, managers and leaders are unprepared and under pressure to move quickly on AI, with only 9% believing their organisation has the skills to use AI technology effectively². 79% of executives say they feel “unprepared” and 57% feel “overwhelmed about having to integrate AI into their role.” 

TCGN Annual Summit headline sponsor and sales AI, Super Benji, points to a survey from Microsoft⁴ that reveals that 79% of leaders agree that AI adoption is critical to remain competitive, however putting AI ambitions into action is a key challenge, with “60% saying their company lacks a vision and plan to implement it”.³

Only 9% [of leaders] believe their organisation has the skills to use AI effectively

Meanwhile, businesses are lagging behind their staff, many of whom are already embracing AI. “75% of knowledge workers are reportedly using AI for their work, apparently saving over 30 minutes per day” with “90% saying AI makes their work more enjoyable.” As Super Benji points out, “individuals are quick to take up tools to enhance their workflow, but their workplaces aren’t keeping up.” 

So what can we do to make AI work for us – and our clients? 

Simon Greenman, Co-Founder and Partner at Best Practice AI says we need to “empower employees at all levels to accelerate and champion AI innovation at scale”.  His recommendations include embracing an open and explorative mindset from the bottom up, exploring and experimenting with Gen AI projects, identifying and empowering AI champions, establishing clear policies to guide AI usage, collaborating with IT, and rewarding innovation.⁵

AI can help us to separate the ‘craft from the graft’

Umbar Shakir, Chief AI Strategy Officer at Havas believes we have an opportunity to “unshackle ourselves from how we have designed work previously”. She believes AI can help us to separate the ‘craft from the graft’ where individuals can focus on “craft” (creative and innovative work) while AI takes over the “graft” (routine, administrative tasks).⁶

Simon and Umbar were guest speakers at our Annual Summit on 17^th October 2024 along with Marc North, Tech Lead at Method Grid. They shared their expertise on how to make AI work for your business to improve efficiency, accelerate growth and get ahead of the competition. 

Topics included the techniques for unlocking the potential of generative AI, delving into its capabilities and applications, and exploring how both large and small consultancies are already using AI for their businesses and to support their clients. 

An invaluable session for visionary consulting leaders who want to make informed decisions and need expert guidance to make AI work for them. 

The article below summarises the key topics discussed on AI at the Annual Summit:

Sources: 

¹ Consultancy BenchPress 2024: https://www.consultancygrowthnetwork.com/consultancy-benchpress/ 

² Chartered Management Institute: https://www.managers.org.uk/about-cmi/media-centre/press-releases/ai-security-job-losses-and-lack-of-training-all-worrying-uk-managers-a-new-study-finds/ 

³ edX Workplace Intelligence Report: https://business.edx.org/app/uploads/2023/09/edX_Workplace_Intelligence_AI_Report.pdf 

⁴ Super Benji: https://www.superbenji.ai/post/spot-ai-or-unveiling-the-nuances-of-ai-generated-writing-in-2024 

⁵ Simon Greenman: the 8 critical steps to unlocking generative AI’s productivity and growth benefits: https://pub.towardsai.net/the-8-critical-steps-to-unlocking-generative-ais-productivity-and-growth-benefits-52af788e0a17 

⁶ Umbar Shakir: The point isn’t AI the point is better work: https://gateoneconsulting.com/the-point-isnt-ai-the-point-is-better-work/