There is a misunderstanding that Alberto Antonietti tries to dismantle from the beginning in this his first interview with Il Sole 24 Ore after his appointment as president of Assoconsult, the industrial association of Business Consulting companies. Artificial intelligence is not just a new competitor for the sector. It is the reason why companies will have to rethink their functioning and therefore also consulting. “AI is not a new technology to add to the company. It is a new architecture with which to design the company.”
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It is here, according to Antonietti – who besides being president of Assoconsult is managing director of Accenture – that the decisive game will be played for a sector that has been experiencing an expansion phase for years. The question for CEOs and entrepreneurs will not be which software to buy. “The question is: how does our operating model change if intelligence becomes practically free, available in real time and scalable?”
Not yet another innovation to graft onto existing processes, in short, but the opportunity to redesign them. “And it is precisely on this question of comprehensive rethinking that business consulting will play a key role, once again making explicit its role as an immaterial infrastructure at the service of change and innovation of the Country System: companies, public administration and citizens.”
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For this reason, the new president of Assoconsult does not identify himself either among the apocalyptic or among the enthusiasts. “I hear two opposing narratives: the first is that generative AI will replace consulting or much of it; the second is that it will enhance and amplify it. The reality is different and perhaps more uncomfortable.” Artificial intelligence, he explains, “will raise the level of competition” and make “the actual and genuine value that consulting can bring” more transparent.
Some activities are destined to decrease: benchmarking, meeting facilitation and information organization. “Certainly, the way of doing consulting will also change. Some services will be reduced, they will have to be rethought and reinvented.” But from the transformation new demand will arise. “A market will be created to respond to the key question: how to redesign companies thanks to AI.”
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