The consulting industry is undergoing its most significant transformation in decades, and as clients, we should be adjusting our expectations accordingly.
Another week, another “AI topic presentation” with 150+ slides landing in my inbox. My thoughts? “Thanks for the slides, but can you also show me a working prototype?”
This shift represents more than just changing preferences—it signals a fundamental realignment of power and expectations in the consulting relationship.
What’s Changing Right Now
The traditional consulting model is being challenged on multiple fronts:
• Slide marathons no longer equal value delivery—we’ve all known this for years, but AI is making it impossible to ignore • AI amplifies senior expertise while making junior work more efficient—the traditional pyramid model is under pressure • Value-based pricing models are gaining ground over pure time billing—clients want outcomes, not hours • Proof-of-concepts are becoming more important than concept papers—show, don’t just tell
The New Client Expectations
Today’s enterprise clients are demanding:
- Working solutions alongside presentations
- Strategic depth combined with technical implementation
- Shared success measurement, not just hourly billing
- Enablement of internal teams for independent development
- Transparency about AI tool usage and resulting efficiencies
Beyond PowerPoint: The Interactive Advantage
Here’s something many consultants haven’t realized yet: AI is fundamentally better at creating interactive web experiences than polished PowerPoint presentations. Large language models excel at coding, HTML, and CSS—skills that translate into dynamic, searchable, and genuinely useful deliverables.
An AI-generated interactive website or dashboard offers something PowerPoint never could: the ability for clients to use AI themselves to identify the most relevant insights for their specific context. Clients can ask questions, drill down into data, and explore scenarios in real-time rather than passively consuming predetermined slides.
This creates a win-win scenario:
- Consultants can deliver more sophisticated, technically impressive results with less manual formatting effort
- Clients get living documents they can interact with, analyze further, and adapt to their needs
- Both parties can collaborate more effectively when insights are searchable and explorable
Of course, human oversight remains essential, especially for critical strategic documents. But the medium itself can be far more powerful than static presentations.
The Reality Check
Here’s what many aren’t talking about: while consultants preach AI transformation to their clients, many enterprises have already developed advanced AI capabilities internally. The knowledge gap between client and consultant is shrinking rapidly.
This creates an interesting paradox. Companies are being advised on AI transformation by firms that may be less advanced in their own AI adoption than their clients.
How the Industry is Adapting
The market response is already underway. Major consulting firms like McKinsey, BCG, and Accenture are investing billions in AI capabilities and new delivery models. Simultaneously, specialized boutique firms with deep technical expertise are emerging to fill specific niches.
This isn’t about the end of consulting—it’s about the evolution of what consulting means. The firms that adapt will become more valuable than ever. Those that don’t will find themselves competing on price for increasingly commoditized services.
Implications for Enterprise Clients
For corporate clients, this transformation represents an opportunity to reset the consulting relationship:
Leverage your growing internal AI competence as a negotiation advantage. You’re no longer the “uninformed” client of the past. Your internal teams may already have capabilities that surpass what external consultants can offer.
Demand proof before engagement. Request working prototypes, reference implementations, and measurable outcomes as part of the proposal process.
Expect interactive deliverables. Why accept static presentations when you could have dynamic, explorable insights that your own AI tools can help you analyze?
Focus on capability transfer, not just deliverables. The best consulting engagements should leave your team more capable than before.
The Path Forward
The future belongs to consultants who can combine strategic insight with technical depth, who can build rather than just recommend, and who can transfer knowledge rather than create dependency.
For clients, this means higher standards and better outcomes. For consultants, it means embracing new formats and delivery methods that leverage AI’s strengths rather than fighting against them.
The PowerPoint era isn’t completely over, but it’s no longer enough. And that’s good news for everyone who’s ever sat through a 200-slide “strategy presentation” wondering when they’d see something they could actually use.
The consulting industry’s quiet revolution is underway. The question is: are you ready to be part of it?
What changes are you seeing in your consulting relationships? How are you adapting your expectations as AI capabilities grow within your organization?