The Rise of Virtual Consultants

On our latest episode of The Future of the Firm podcast, Dr Jan van de Poll, MD and Founder of Praioritize, caught up with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source. 

Jan and Emma shared their insights on the following matters and more:   

• According to Source’s latest quarterly client survey, 98% of consulting buyers believe that generative AI will replace consultants to some extent, with 55% expecting it to do so to a significant degree  

• Virtual consulting is challenging the established consulting model: Jan argues that while traditional consultants typically only serve 1% of the organisation, virtual consulting models offer the opportunity to extend insights and support to the remaining 99%. 

• AI is streamlining consulting processes—turning time-consuming tasks like conducting and analysing hundreds of interviews into more efficient, dynamic workflows using smart, real-time questionnaires. 

• Virtual consulting has implication for the governance processes within firms, and partners may find their role evolving. 

• We can now combine the two, GenAI and human consultants, while AI can rapidly process and structure information, human expertise remains essential for tailoring insights and delivering client-ready solutions. [5:11] 

• Despite current limitations, virtual consultants and human professionals are not mutually exclusive—but can, in fact, complement one another to create a more efficient, adaptive consulting model. 

• The next steps for AI consulting will focus on objective quantification of soft aspects such as future readiness, leadership, innovation, and organisational dynamics. These can then be used to create KPIs to derive actionable insights. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Matthew Wilson, Chief Legal Office at Fremantle, about creating business resilience.