Clients demand faster consulting work

Jeanelle Johnson, PwC's managing partner for the Washington DC area, says clients are asking for help delivering outcomes at a more rapid pace than a year ago.

“I am seeing clients ask for our help in delivering outcomes at a more rapid pace”

Eight weeks becomes four weeks

Work that PwC would have said takes eight to ten weeks now faces expectations of roughly half that time. The shelf life of consulting recommendations has also halved.

“Something that we might have said takes eight to 10 weeks; the expectation is probably half of that.”

Pilots and proofs of concept accelerate

Clients are not expecting entire transformations faster, but rather pilots and proofs of concepts. They expect AI tools to accelerate the work itself.

“There's an expectation now that tools should accelerate the work”

McKinsey turns weeks into hours

At McKinsey, AI has accelerated early problem-solving so much that what used to be a team's week one answer is now an hour one answer, according to Kate Smaje, McKinsey's Global Leader for technology and AI.

Faster delivery, not less work

Johnson says faster delivery should not be confused with less work. AI will free capacity for more meaningful work rather than simply reducing hours needed on a project.

Complexity rises amid global pressures

Clients now navigate geopolitical tensions, wars, tariffs, and macroeconomic uncertainty simultaneously. Johnson says consultants used to handle one or two pressures at a time, but now must deal with ten plus, plus, plus at a time.

“Now we're in a world order where we have to deal with 10 plus, plus, plus at a time.”