Consulting tipped to boom on march of AI

The rise of AI should be a boon to London’s consulting industry, leading to more graduates and trainees flocking to the trade.

A report from the Management Consultancies Association finds that the sector enjoyed £18.6 billion of income last year, up from £14.4 billion in 2021. It will grow again this year, perhaps by 13%.

The number of graduates becoming consultants will not be welcomed by critics of the sector, who argue they are a loss to more important parts of the economy.

UK consulting firms are in increased demand from across the globe, the MCA says.

MCA chief executive Tamzen Isacsson said: “Over the next few years, we expect our industry to experience double-digit growth assisting clients with some of their greatest challenges during a period of significant global disruption from seizing the advantages of working with new technologies, to making real impacts on confronting climate change.”

He added: “Part of [last year’s] growth [was] because our profession is widening the services we offer to clients, increasingly in the digital space with more demands placed on us by firms from tackling cybersecurity threats to providing critical support on adopting artificial intelligence.”

City banks and other finance groups are among the most common to call in consultants for help.