When I was 22, I found myself in the middle of a business crisis I will never forget.
I was tasked with turning around a struggling manufacturing plant with 2000+ employees.
Operations, finance, labour relations, supply chain, customer commitments, every system was breaking at once.
Two labour unions had launched a “go slow” strike.
Our largest customer, Walmart, had just cancelled a $1M+ order.
The bank refused to extend our line of credit.
Salaries were delayed.
Vendors were not paid.
Some of our best managers quit.
It was chaos.
I was young, barely 22, and forced to make hard calls every single day.
Some decisions worked. Others did not.
But looking back, that period taught me one of the most powerful lessons of my life.
👉 To solve complex organizational problems, you need exceptional critical thinking, decision making, and interpersonal skills.
Years later, when I became a management consultant, I carried that learning with me.
I learned to always think like a general manager, to step into the client’s shoes and see the world from their side of the table.
Because consulting, at its core, is human.
You cannot take the human element out of even the most technical organizational problem.
And as technology advances, we will only face more complex challenges, challenges that demand better thinking, empathy, and judgment.
I do not think AI and technology can ever replace the human element of our profession, but they are definitely reshaping and enabling it.
They are helping consultants create and deliver value like never before. That is why I have always been fascinated by where technology is going and what it can do for consultants. That is also why I hosted the Future of Consulting Summit, which ran from Nov 3 to Nov 6.
I spoke with 12 brilliant consulting leaders and subject matter experts about how they are adapting, innovating, and building their businesses in the AI era.
If you are curious about where consulting is headed and how top consultants are using AI to evolve their practices, the conversations from the Future of Consulting Summit are worth exploring.
