When Deloitte refunded part of the A$439,000 it was paid by the Australian government for a report riddled with AI-generated errors, it seemed like the perfect moment to slow down.
Instead, the firm doubled down and announced a global rollout of Anthropic’s Claude to nearly half a million employees. That decision captures the strange new logic shaping the Big 4 consulting companies. PwC, EY, KPMG, and Deloitte are no longer just using AI, they are performing it.
Audit and tax work has slowed, regulation is tightening, and growth now depends on signalling technological boldness. In this new credibility economy, hesitation looks worse than failure. A mistake is no longer a crisis; it has become proof that you are early.
But as every firm rushes to prove its AI edge, sameness is setting in, and the next real differentiator may not be accuracy at all.
What could it be then?
Tune in.
