The Future of the Firm

The pandemic has made COOs and CEOs acutely aware of their human capital dependencies, and many have turned to technologies like artificial intelligence and robotic process automation as a means of building more resilience into their businesses. And that’s been great news for the new generation of specialist automation consulting firms and “automation as a service” providers. In this episode, we speak to Roboyo’s Charles Vivian and Nicolass Hess to find out where this field goes next, and what implications that will have for the wider consulting sector. 

Over the past decade, digital transformation has been one of the most important drivers of consulting spend; our latest data suggests that the digital transformation market makes up over a third of the total global market for consulting services. However, the pandemic has had some profound effects on the digital priorities of clients—and, in many industries, has led to a significant acceleration of digital trends. In this episode, we’re joined by Didier Bonnet—an Executive Vice President at Capgemini Invent—to discuss how consulting firms can update their digital offerings for this new world. 

For many of us, strategy work is what we immediately picture when we think about consulting. However, like every facet of this industry, strategy consulting has moved on a great deal over the past few decades. Indeed, for many clients, the word “strategy” itself has a very different set of connotations than it once did. In this episode of the podcast, we’re joined by Jonathan Goodman—Chair of Monitor Deloitte and a Vice Chair of Deloitte Canada—as we discuss just how much has changed about strategy consulting, and how the field will continue to evolve over the coming years. 

Thought leadership is a crucial part of the brand-building strategy of the modern professional services firm. And over the past year and a half, it’s taken on a new level of importance; for many clients, it has played a vital role in helping them successfully overcome the challenges of the pandemic. On this episode, we’re joined by Francis Hintermann, the Global Managing Director of Accenture Research, to discuss what firms can do if they want to maximise the impact of the content they produce, and ensure it accurately reflects the priorities of their clients.

As issues of racial justice have taken on a new level of importance in the public consciousness, consulting firms have become more aware of the need to confront the sector's historical failings. In this episode, we’re joined by Ekow Sanni-Thomas, founder of Inside Voices, a platform dedicated to holding companies accountable for their diversity pledges. We discuss the practical steps that consultants can take if they want to transform their firms into truly anti-racist organisations. 

Over the past few years, the boundaries between freelancers and established consulting firms have become a lot more porous than they used to be. Spurred on by a desire to create more flexible resourcing models, large consulting firms have adopted a much more proactive approach to bringing freelancers into the delivery of their client engagements. And that’s been facilitated, in part, by the arrival of a new generation of “talent-on-demand" platforms, which have made it easier than ever before to source and vet freelance consultants. So, on this episode of the podcast, we’re joined by Charlotte Gregson, Managing Director for the UK & US at COMATCH, in order to take a deep dive into the rapidly evolving world of freelance consulting—and what it all means for established professional services firms and their clients. 

In the modern consulting industry, it’s vital that firms understand how to help clients unlock the innovation potential within their organisations. Increasingly, clients aren’t just looking for consultants who know how to write a compelling PowerPoint deck; they want to find partners who can provide them with the practical support necessary to develop, launch and scale radically innovative products and services. In this episode of the podcast, we’re joined by Frazer Bennett, Chief Innovation Officer at PA Consulting, to discuss the role of innovation in today’s consulting sector. As well as looking at the longer-term trend of firms embracing their role as enablers of innovation, we’ll also be examining the extent to which COVID has pushed this topic up the agendas of clients, and the various ways in which firms have had to adjust their approaches to innovation in response to the rise of virtual working.   

Over the past twelve months, the global Black Lives Matter movement has forced businesses in every industry to ask themselves some hard questions about their track record on issues of diversity and inclusion. For the consulting sector, these questions feel particularly pertinent, given the way in which a firm’s success is directly rooted in the human capital it has access to. On this episode of the podcast we’re joined by Susan Haseley—Executive Vice President at Protiviti and the firm’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Leader—to examine this topic in more detail. We explore why—from a commercial and ethical standpoint—consultants ought to care about diversity and inclusion, and we examine what specific steps firms can take to transform themselves into more diverse organisations. 

Whether you’re a leader within a consulting firm or a consultant who advises clients on questions about management and leadership, there’s a good chance you’ve spent a lot of time over the last year thinking about the topic of employee engagement. Engagement might not be a new concept, either for consultants or their clients, but it is one that feels more relevant right now than ever. The pandemic has, after all, had a profound impact on the relationship between leaders and their workforces. So, on this episode, we’re joined by Pamela Hackett—CEO of consulting firm Proudfoot and author of “Manage to Engage” —as we take a deep dive into the world of engagement. We’ll look at what it takes to build an engaged workforce, and we’ll explore the role that consulting firms can play in helping clients take their first steps along that journey. 

Since the very beginning of the pandemic, there was talk in both the private and public sector about the need to “build back better” and ensure a “green recovery” from COVID-19. Now that we’re starting to get a better sense of what a post-COVID future could look like, clients are asking themselves tough questions about what, exactly, a green recovery will mean in practice—and how to balance competing priorities at this critical moment in time. In this episode, we revisit the topic of sustainability; and more specifically, we examine the way in which client demand for sustainability services has started to reshape the competitive dynamics of the consulting sector. To discuss this topic, we’re joined by Dame Jo da Silva and Carol Lemmens from Arup—the firm’s Global Sustainable Development Director and Global Advisory Services Leader, respectively.