Consultants Talk

In this episode, we share a preview of our newest research -- the 2026 Consulting Navigator report. The Navigator is a detailed breakdown of the global consulting market, with market size and forecast data as well as ratings and assessments of consulting providers and their capability-building investments. My colleague and report author, Nathan Simon shares details on the rapidly changing consulting landscape.

Most consulting firms are still using AI to do fairly routine and basic tasks. But firms are experimenting and getting a lot closer to what a consulting partner would produce. But will AI replace that expertise? In this episode, we talk with Professor Joe O'Mahoney, the consultants' consultant. He's been advising firms for more than 20 years, with a particular emphasis on building equity and value for boutique firms. He explains what AI still doesn't do, which is understand the political environment of the client. So as firms narrow their pyramid, that expertise becomes even more important. 

Conventional wisdom says top-level partners are the "rainmakers" for consulting firms. David Ryan, founder of Gray Matters Group, tells us that real revenue generation comes from the other 90% of your consulting staff. David has spent the last 20+ years advising professional services firms on how to activate front-line consultants to be your most effective business development team. Host Tom Rodenhauser and David discuss the pragmatic skills, tools, and behaviors that can be immediately applied to provide an immediate revenue boost.

Consulting's mentorship model has long been the foundation of the industry. Does AI threaten to undermine this principle? Will bots be the teachers rather than the experienced partners?  In this episode, Tom talks with Tony Klimas, who has been a senior partner at EY as well as KPMG and Bearingpoint. His capstone was as President of Horvath USA. Reflecting on more than three decades of leadership and service in consulting, Tony believes AI will actually enable firms to be more responsive to teaching the skills necessary to succeed in the consulting industry.

Every consulting firm talks about values and principles. But do they live them? In this episode, Tom talks with Adam Boitnott, founder of fast-growing Hylaine Consulting, on what it's like to say "no" to clients. Adam's philosophy was formed early in his career, when, as a junior consultant at Accenture, he sent the CEO a list of suggestions for bettering the firm. Today he teaches staffers that doing right by client means more than the bottom line.

In this episode, Tom is joined by Brent Trimble, Vice President of Value Engineering at Kantata and host of the Professional Services Pursuit podcast, for a candid conversation on what it really takes to grow a consulting firm. Drawing on decades of experience in advertising, consulting, and SaaS, Brent unpacks why differentiation is more than a slogan, how firms can escape the “sea of sameness,” and why discipline matters at every stage of growth.

Jim O'Malley is a senior talent advisor who has quietly filled C-suites and deal teams for Private Equity houses, blue-chip professional-services partnerships, and financial-services giants for more than three decades.In our conversation, Jim offers insights on why PE has become the dominant investor in consulting services over the last decade. We also talk about what traits separate a partner-track consultant from those who successfully take on an operating-partner role.

The consulting industry is undergoing massive disruption -- a period where we'll see breakups and breakouts. That's because the core consulting business model has stayed largely intact even as the world has shifted. The multi-billion-dollar partner-owned, practice-based organization with resource-based fees (time and materials or fixed fee) can't continue to scale. Those betting on GenAI’s salvation fail to recognize that GenAI’s greatest near-term transformative potential is in the consulting industry itself, which will hasten rather than postpone a break with the consulting industry's current decline phase.AI is not Digitization 2.0. The consulting industry needs a new business model, not a new offering.

What happens when a people-based industry faces a crisis with its commercial model? We talk with James O'Dowd, renowned talent advisor to professional services and private equity, and founder of talent advisory firm Patrick Morgan. James and host Tom Rodenhauser offer inside perspectives and discuss how the consulting industry is transforming -- and potentially fragmenting -- right before our eyes.Brought to you by: Kennedy IntelligenceProduced by: Connversa PodcastingMusic by: The Polarity

Consulting veteran John Norkus, who led pricing strategy development at KPMG, North Highland, and Deloitte over his 30-year career, discusses how consulting's time-based pricing must respond to clients' demand for change. Value creation is the name of the game and consultants must adapt their commercial models to succeed. Learn what leading firms are thinking and how firms are positioning themselves for the future.Brought to you by: Kennedy IntelligenceProduced by: Connversa PodcastingMusic by: The Polarity

Consulting Veteran Mark Livingston, the former CEO of Cognizant Business Consulting and Infosys Consulting, joins the show. A former partner at Kearney and early adopter to technology before taking on those leadership roles, Mark looks back at the 2000's industry tech shift to talk about the future. From the early opposition that Mark faced as he pushed tech within the industry to how AI will change today's industry, we offer perspectives that are prescient and MORE! Brought to you by: Kennedy IntelligenceProduced by: Connversa PodcastingMusic by: The Polarity

Alex Klein, 30 year consultant and founding partner of Efficio, joins Tom and Ramone to reflect on everything that went right - and wrong when he and 5 other consultants left A.T. Kearney to build a supply chain consultancy. We talk about how Alex and his team adjusted to their strengths to find success in the market, Alex's perspective on the multiple phases of the consulting business, M&A and private equity, and a lot more!Brought to you by: Kennedy IntelligenceProduced by: Connversa PodcastingMusic by: The Polarity

On today's show we bring in our good friend Jonas Lunendonk. Jonas has been advising firms in Germany on AI and he gives us some insight into how firms are implementing AI today and what we can expect consulting to look like moving forward! We talk about how generative AI will affect intellectual property, why prompting won't be the end-all skill a firm's team will need, how AI will disrupt the pyramid, and more!Brought to you by: Kennedy IntelligenceProduced by: Connversa PodcastingMusic by: The Polarity Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we bring on Ramone Param, an expert in professional services investments, to talk about the current consulting industry mergers and acquisitions trends. We dive into what's driving M&A activity RIGHT NOW, investments in AI Consulting, what Ramone is seeing in valuations and deal structures, and MORE!Brought to you by: Kennedy IntelligenceProduced by: Connversa PodcastingMusic by: The Polarity