🌸Management Future Notebook No. 218: 'From a Nikkei article. Are consultants no longer needed due to AI?' — Those who survive are not 'those who provide answers,' but 'those who can move people and organizations.'

🌸Management Future Notebook No. 218: 'From a Nikkei article. Are consultants no longer needed due to AI?' — Those who survive are not 'those who provide answers,' but 'those who can move people and organizations.'

(Written by Akifumi Yasumura / Business Capability Development Co., Ltd.)

■ Introduction

I paused for a moment while reading the Nikkei on August 11th.
The theme was how the consulting industry will change due to AI.
President Nagakawa of Deloitte Tohmatsu expressed a sense of crisis, stating that 'if we do nothing, we will perish,' and also touched on the possibility that the market could peak around 2030.
President Kondo of EY Strategy and Consulting also spoke to the effect that unless human consultants can demonstrate that they are superior to AI agents, they will enter an era where they will no longer be used.
I thought this was a quite essential point.
Because, conducting research, gathering materials, analyzing, and compiling them into a clean report—
AI can already do quite a lot of this.
So, what are consultants there for?

■ The value of 'those who know' will certainly decline

Until now, consultants had value in being:
'Knowledgeable'
'Able to analyze'
'Possessing a lot of information'
However, AI is rapidly catching up in these areas.
I do not think the job of a consultant itself will disappear.
However, I believe it will become quite difficult for consultants who only provide knowledge.
From a manager's perspective, even if you are handed a splendid 100-page document, the company will not change.
The problem is the day after.
'So, who will take action?'
'Are the employees convinced?'
'Can the department manager really change?'
'Will this continue six months from now?'
Beyond this point, things do not progress with documents alone.

■ Those who can enter the 'execution phase' will remain in the AI era

The Nikkei article also pointed out that from now on, problem-solving skills in the execution phase, human skills, and human resource development will become important.
I focused on this term, 'execution phase'.
In management, there are countless things that cannot be done even when the correct answer is known.
Wanting to change meetings.
Wanting to eliminate walls between departments.
Wanting to cultivate the next generation of executives.
Wanting employees to be more proactive.
If you are a manager, you have probably thought about these things once or twice.
However, people do not move just by being told the logical truth.
People have emotions.
They have past relationships.
They have pride.
There are even times when they think, 'I don't want to listen to anything that person says.'
No matter how smart AI becomes, this tediousness remains on the front lines.
I see this as the area where the work of human consultants will remain.

■ Isn't what managers really want 'the growth of their executives'?

If I were in a manager's position, rather than having an outside consultant bring the answer every time, I would want my own executives to be able to think, judge, and solve problems for themselves.
This is what I would prefer.
Returning to the way things were the moment the consultant leaves.
This cannot be called a company that has truly become stronger.
For executives to grow, it is not enough to just hold a training session once.
There must be psychological safety.
There must be frank dialogue.
The future vision must be shared.
They must be able to try small challenges and learn from failure.
And the manager themselves must also change.
It is necessary to create such an 'environment where people grow'.
That is why I believe that future consultants will not just be advisors, but will need:
The ability to walk alongside the manager and accompany them until change takes root within the organization.

■ 'Human skills to get into someone's heart' do not grow easily

The Nikkei article also pointed out that future consultants will need 'human skills to get into someone's heart' by sensing the worries of the management layer.
This is the most difficult part.
Just because you take listening training does not mean you can listen to the other person from the next day.
Just because you learn how to ask questions does not mean the manager will tell you their true feelings.
People only tell the truth when they think, 'I can talk to this person.'
There is a realm here that cannot be reached by technique alone.
Experience, understanding of human nature, failure, and trust.
In some cases, it takes years.
Therefore, I believe that the more we enter the AI era, the more the 'maturity as a human being' of a consultant will be called into question.

■ Editor's Note

I myself have been involved in supporting management and organizations for a long time, but looking back, the content of consultations from managers is often different from the 'problem' I heard at first.
I thought it was a consultation about sales, but it was actually about a successor.
I thought it was a consultation about organizational reform, but it was actually about the relationship between the president and the department manager.
I thought it was a consultation about human resource development, but in the end, it became a conversation about 'I wonder what I want to do with this company.'
In management, there are people behind the numbers.
As AI evolves, this part may conversely be highlighted.

■ Today's Question

If AI could do the research, analysis, and document creation,
what would you want a consultant to do?
And is what your company really needs an 'answer'?
Or is it 'people and an organization' that can create answers for themselves?

■ Cat's Mutterings

'AI can make documents, but I wonder how much it really knows the president, meow.'

■ About this article

This time, using the Nikkei article from August 11, 2026, as a starting point, I thought about the role required of consultants in the AI era from my own perspective.

🌸Management Future Notebook: '3 Selections Every Executive Should Read Now'

https://note.com/quiet_gnu5848/n/n59ba4650e7d0

🌸40 selections chosen by the editor-in-chief of the Management Future Notebook

─A 'structural map' for executives to read the future
https://note.com/quiet_gnu5848/n/n3596a857d755

■Please share your thoughts

👉 yasumura@biz-noukai.com to this address.
I will definitely reply.

■Next issue preview for August 14th

'Why dialogue is more important than conversation'
—Learning the art of dialogue from Matsushita-o and Socrates

■Akifumi Yasumura

🌸Management Future Notebook
'A place where tired executives can leave their words for a while.
——#Executive's Midnight Diner'

■Appendix