McKinsey Boss Says AI Could Mean Golden Age for Consultancy Firm

McKinsey & Co. is on the edge of a possible “golden age” as companies seek help with issues such as artificial intelligence, according to Global Managing Partner Bob Sternfels.

(Bloomberg) — McKinsey & Co. is on the edge of a possible “golden age” as companies seek help with issues such as artificial intelligence, according to Global Managing Partner Bob Sternfels. Speaking to Bloomberg TV, the head of the consulting firm said he’d told staff to expect a surge in demand, with drivers including the “AI moment,” geopolitical instability and the transition to new energy sources.

“Maybe I’m nuts, but when I think about the rest of this decade, I think there’s a potential that this is a golden age for us,” he said. “We see over the next five years the complexity of those problems going up, not going down.” The consulting industry is being shaken up by AI.

Last month, shares in Accenture Plc slumped to their lowest in about a decade on investor concerns that emerging technology would render some professional services redundant. McKinsey has cut staff from its support teams on the back of the AI wave but is hiring more consultants, and is set to grow headcount overall, Sternfels said. “You will see our workforce now start to rise,” he said, adding that consultants also have an average of three AI agents each to boost their impact.

Sternfels said a joke among the firm’s junior ranks was “if your agents don’t work all night, you will.” Sternfels, who has worked at McKinsey for more than three decades, is stepping down from his leadership role next year. Early in his career, he didn’t think he would last more than two years, after his first performance review said he was a “hiring mistake.”

“I’m like, OK, great,” he said. “But it was motivating. Let’s just put it that way.”