Consulting Firms + AI

These firms may become the consultative sales force new AI technologies need in order to be integrated into large enterprises.

After ChatGPT's release in November of 2022, large software companies and a sea of new startups have begun offering a range of enterprise AI solutions from custom models to customer service agents. Now they are all working to land large enterprise deals and become key parts of industry workflows.

Excitement is building throughout the corporate landscape to utilize new AI tools.   However, finding the promised productivity gains has not been so simple. Integrating new AI tooling comes with questions across companies from employees asking:  Will this replace my job?  to Executives wondering:  Are they using our proprietary data to train their models?

This organizational resistance to new AI tools seems to have led to the consultative sales force of consultative sales forces -- consulting firms -- to be called in.

These firms are often the go-to partners for large corporations to not only integrate new technology but also manage risk. This approach could put them in a perfect position to sell the solution themselves:

PwC Partners with OpenAI to sell ChatGPT Enterprise to their customers.

ChatGPT Enterprise was launched last summer with “enterprise-grade security longer context windows, advanced data analysis capabilities, and more customization” (OpenAI). PwC's U.K. and U.S. branches will be the first to resell OpenAI's business-focused chatbot.

“We are actively engaged in GenAI with 950 of our top 1,000 US consulting client accounts alongside discussing the use and implications of AI with many of our audit clients, emphasizing the near-universal demand across industries” (PwC)

Mckinsey has also recently inked a partnership with Microsoft to help clients with AI integration.

The two have joined forces to leverage generative AI in enterprise and shared services operations, enhancing the long-standing alliance between the two companies. McKinsey generally estimates: Gen AI could broadly contribute between $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion in annual benefits by integrating into business activities. Their partnership will combine Microsoft's Copilot Studio with McKinsey's expertise in strategy, organizational change, digital transformation, and implementation. Led by QuantumBlack McKinsey’s designated AI consulting arm.

These partnerships very well may be both a reaction and a first step as large-scale integration and resistance are the key issues at hand for new AI Products.