Three fundamental shifts are breaking traditional advisory models:
Information has been democratized. What once required teams of analysts and proprietary databases now takes minutes with AI. Any executive can generate market analysis, competitive intelligence, and strategic frameworks on demand. The information advantage that consulting firms sold for decades has evaporated.
Speed has become survival. Markets move in weeks, not quarters. Technology capabilities double annually. By the time traditional consultants deliver their recommendations, the competitive landscape has already shifted. Eighteen-month transformation roadmaps are obsolete before implementation begins.
Value and time have decoupled. When AI completes analysis in hours that previously took weeks, billing by time becomes irrational. Yet consulting firms depend on billable hours for profit. They face an impossible choice: embrace efficiency and destroy their economics, or resist efficiency and become irrelevant.
These aren't temporary disruptions. They're permanent structural changes that make traditional consulting progressively less viable.