AI is being used within the consultancy industry more than ever to speed up time-consuming processes, but it puts user security at risk.
Like the majority of modern industries, experts in consultancy have been experimenting with the tools offered by artificial intelligence to improve the experience of both workers and clients.
Uses are broad, ranging from recording meetings for later referral to creating code for numeric analysis.
According to Statista, 57% of consulting firms in the UK used AI for research in 2023, with 54% using it for data analysis.
Kerry Robinson is a client manager and owner of Mellion Consulting, a firm that specialises in the analysis of surveys to provide customer insight for global clients. She outlined some of benefits and challenges faced whilst using AI within her company.
Mellion Consulting logo © Mellion Consulting
“AI could offer security issues”
“We’ve used AI to record and summarise meetings to look back on later, but we’ve already experienced hiccups where the AI has started recordings too early and collated unprofessional conversations within the summary of the meeting.”
She explains that creating formulas for data analysis is one of the more complex and time-consuming aspects of her job so AI can play a role in helping that.
“It can be used to build code for numeric analysis but the nature of our work means that sharing vast amounts of information with AI could offer security issues.”
“The currently loose legislation around how AI organisations use the data does cause some concern.”
Despite these concerns, Statista also found that 94% of consulting buyers expected AI to have a positive impact on industry efficiency, with 66% going so far as to say they would discontinue using the services if AI is not incorporated.
Consultancy has a history of being one of the most “human” industries to work in and Robinson worries that increased AI usage would risk taking away that benefit.
People looking at data © My Startup World
“I can’t see how we can compete”
The Harvard Business Review argued that AI would significantly shrink industries akin to consulting due to the intellectual labour they require.
“AI will undoubtably be faster, but I believe it will lose the nuance and understanding of data that a person with knowledge of the organisation can bring.”
Beyond the risks of using AI within the industry, there also exists a fear of what it could mean for those working in consulting themselves.
McKinsey’s 2023 AI Report discovered that 43% of consultancy organizations expected the growth in AI to result in a decrease in their workforce with 8% of respondents expecting to lose more than 20%.
Robinson’s concerns reaffirm these statistics.
“Everyone wants everything instantly and for as cheap as they can possibly get it. If other firms are prepared to utilise AI to provide that, I can’t see how we can compete.”
She admits that AI will be able to perform tasks quicker and display data in a more visually appealing way to clients but feels it prioritises style over substance.
Robinson leaves me with a final question to consider as AI impacts her company.
“Will its benefit be a glorified word count?”