The implications of artificial intelligence in management consulting: A risk and barrier assessment

Siddhartha Paul Tiwari

doi:10.31893/multirev.2025244

Keywords:

consulting automation

AI implementation

future trends

consulting framework

organizational disruption

Abstract

In the world of management consulting, a looming question is whether artificial intelligence will replace management consultants or not or perhaps not entirely. However, the field of management consulting is likely to undergo dramatic changes in the near future. Based on more precise pattern recognition, artificial intelligence can assist management consultants in resolving issues, creating value, maximising growth, and improving business performance. Management consultants provide objective advice and expertise using their business skills, and assist an organization in developing any specialist skills that it may lack. Artificial intelligence can assist management consultants in generating structures, performing data analytics quickly and serving as a personal and data assistant. As artificial intelligence (AI) has advanced rapidly in recent years, many applications have been developed in management consulting. Enhancing the productivity of management consulting could be one of the most economically and socially beneficial uses of artificial intelligence. Through the use of artificial intelligence (AI), management consulting companies and individual consultants may be able to grow, innovate, and meet global challenges in an accelerated manner. As a career, management consulting can be one of the most rewarding and satisfying in terms of both remuneration and job satisfaction. The use of artificial intelligence in management consulting can, however, pose some security and ethical challenges which are discussed in this paper.
References
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to cite

Tiwari, S. P. (2025). The implications of artificial intelligence in management consulting: A risk and barrier assessment. Multidisciplinary Reviews, 8(8), 2025244. https://doi.org/10.31893/multirev.2025244

[1] Ahmed, I., Jeon, G., & Piccialli, F. (2022). From artificial intelligence to explainable artificial intelligence in Industry 4.0: A survey on what, how, and where. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 18(8), 5031-5042. https://doi.org/10.1109/TII.2021.3075123

[2] Alexandre, C., Blanckaert, L., & Belleflamme, P. (2020). The Influence of Artificial Intelligence on The Consulting Industry (Doctoral dissertation). Université Catholique de Louvain.

[3] Ali, S., Abuhmed, T., El-Sappagh, S., Muhammad, K., Alonso-Moral, J. M., Confalonieri, R., ... & Herrera, F. (2023). Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI): What we know and what is left to attain trustworthy artificial intelligence. Information Fusion, 99, 101805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inffus.2023.101805

[4] Al-Qudah, A. A. (2022). Artificial intelligence in practice: Implications for information systems research, case study UAE companies. In Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Finance and Sustainable Technology: Proceedings of ICGER 2021 1 (pp. 225-234). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89515-8_20

[5] Benbya, H., Davenport, T. H., & Pachidi, S. (2020). Artificial intelligence in organizations: Current state and future opportunities. MIS Quarterly Executive, 19(4), 261-278.

[6] Bessen, J. (2018). AI and jobs: The role of demand. National Bureau of Economic Research, w24235. https://doi.org/10.3386/w24235

[7] Bharadiya, J. P. (2023). A comparative study of business intelligence and artificial intelligence with big data analytics. American Journal of Artificial Intelligence, 7(1), 24-35. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajai.20230701.13

[8] Del Giudice, M., Scuotto, V., & Papa, A. (2023). Knowledge management and AI in Society 5.0. Taylor & Francis.

[9] Feuerriegel, S., Shrestha, Y. R., von Krogh, G., & Zhang, C. (2022). Bringing artificial intelligence to business management. Nature Machine Intelligence, 4(7), 611-613. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-022-00510-2

[10] Filippi, E., Bannò, M., & Trento, S. (2023). Automation technologies and their impact on employment: A review, synthesis, and future research agenda. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 191, 122448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122448

[11] Gînguță, A., Munteanu, V. P., Ștefea, P., & Noja, G. G. (2023, June). Artificial intelligence and consultancy services: Perspectives of organizational and ethical concerns. In International Conference on Disruptive Technologies, Tech Ethics and Artificial Intelligence (pp. 219-232). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27538-1_19

[12] Gînguță, A., Ștefea, P., Noja, G. G., & Munteanu, V. P. (2023). Ethical impacts, risks and challenges of artificial intelligence technologies in business consulting: A new modelling approach based on structural equations. Electronics, 12(6), 1462. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12061462

[13] Holzinger, A., Keiblinger, K., Holub, P., Zatloukal, K., & Müller, H. (2023). AI for life: Trends in artificial intelligence for biotechnology. New Biotechnology, 74, 16-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbt.2023.01.005

[14] Iaia, L., Nespoli, C., Vicentini, F., Pironti, M., & Genovino, C. (2023). Supporting the implementation of AI in business communication: The role of knowledge management. Journal of Knowledge Management, 28(1), 85-95. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-01-2023-0054

[15] Kamaruddin, R. I. (2023). ChatGPT and the Future of Management Consulting: Opportunities and Challenges Ahead (Doctoral dissertation). Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

[16] Kiron, D. (2022). AI can change how you measure—and how you manage. MIT Sloan Management Review, 63(3), 24-28.

[17] Krakowski, S., Luger, J., & Raisch, S. (2023). Artificial intelligence and the changing sources of competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 44(6), 1425-1452. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3477

[18] Laker, B., Matejko, S., Godley, W., & Adewale, A. (2021). How to develop early career talent virtually. MIT Sloan Management Review, 62(2), 1-6.

[19] Lazaroiu, G., & Rogalska, E. (2023). How generative artificial intelligence technologies shape partial job displacement and labor productivity growth. Oeconomia Copernicana, 14(3), 703-706. https://doi.org/10.24136/oc.2023.020

[20] Mai, G., Huang, W., Sun, J., Song, S., Mishra, D., Liu, N., ... & Lao, N. (2023). On the opportunities and challenges of foundation models for geospatial artificial intelligence. arXiv preprint, arXiv:2304.06798. https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.06798. Accessed on December 03, 2024.

[21] Malikova, D., & Abduganieva, F. (2023). The role of consulting in the modern economy. Global Scientific Review, 12, 1–4.

[22] Mindell, D. A., & Reynolds, E. (2023). The work of the future: Building better jobs in an age of intelligent machines. MIT Press.

[23] Mische, M. A. (2017). IT management consulting: The industry and profession. In Management Consulting Today and Tomorrow (pp. 75-117). Routledge.

[24] Mohan, S. K. (2024). Management consulting in the artificial intelligence–LLM era. Management Consulting Journal, 7(1), 9-24. https://doi.org/10.2478/mcj-2024-0002

[25] Noponen, N. (2019). Impact of artificial intelligence on management. Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies, 24(2), 43–50. http://ejbo.jyu.fi/pdf/ejbo_vol24_no2_pages_43-50.pdf. Accessed on December 03, 2024.

[26] Oarue-Itseuwa, E. (2024). Artificial Intelligence’s Impact of the Management Consultancy Sector over the Next Five Years. Management Consulting Journal, 7(1), 49-58. https://doi.org/10.2478/mcj-2024-0005

[27] Oyewo, B., & Tran, D. K. (2021). Enhancing the competitiveness of business and management consulting firms through the application of big data and analytics. The Singapore Economic Review, 66(6), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217590821500259

[28] Pallathadka, H., Ramirez-Asis, E. H., Loli-Poma, T. P., Kaliyaperumal, K., Ventayen, R. J. M., & Naved, M. (2023). Applications of artificial intelligence in business management, e-commerce and finance. Materials Today: Proceedings, 80, 2610-2613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2023.03.257

[29] Prytula, I. (2024). The impact of artificial intelligence on the consulting services market. Ekonomichnyy analiz, 34(2), 291-300.

[30] Shafiabady, N., Hadjinicolaou, N., Din, F. U., Bhandari, B., Wu, R. M., & Vakilian, J. (2023). Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict organizational agility. PLOS ONE, 18(5), e0283066. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283066

[31] Tavoletti, E., Kazemargi, N., Cerruti, C., Grieco, C., & Appolloni, A. (2022). Business model innovation and digital transformation in global management consulting firms. European Journal of Innovation Management, 25(6), 612-636. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-12-2020-0485

Abstract

References

How to cite