Category: Industry discussion

Consultants using AI strategy dashboards to explore the future of consulting by 2030.

The Future of Consulting: How AI Reshapes the Industry by 2030

By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant. Updated July 2026. The future of consulting is a shift in how the industry operates, not whether it exists. Under AI and client pressure, firms move to smaller and faster teams, value-based rather than hourly pricing, fewer entry-level hires, and a growing line of AI-strategy work. The core…
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Consultant comparing AI capabilities with human judgment in the future of consulting.

Will AI Replace Consultants? An Ex-McKinsey Reality Check

By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant. Updated July 2026. If you are weighing a consulting career, you have probably typed “will AI replace consultants” into Google at midnight and found two useless extremes: consulting is dead, or nothing will change. Neither helps you decide whether to bet the next few years of your life…
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Professional cover image for an MBB salaries comparison article, showing McKinsey, BCG, and Bain alongside a rising career-level bar chart from analyst to partner with a corporate skyline background.

MBB Salary 2026: McKinsey, BCG, Bain Compared by Level

Updated August 2026 · By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant Update, August 2026: McKinsey has raised US undergraduate base salary from $112,000 to $120,000, effective January 2027, covering summer interns and candidates who had already signed. Bain has matched. BCG has told offer holders that revised lettersare coming. The increase is a US adjustment…
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Cover image for an article on Strategy& salary, showing two consultants beside rising orange and white geometric steps symbolizing the strategy premium inside PwC’s compensation structure.

Strategy& Salary 2026: The Strategy Premium Inside PwC’s Comp Structure

Updated May 18, 2026 | By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant The most important fact about Strategy& salary is that it’s structurally separate from PwC general consulting compensation despite the shared parent. Strategy& consultants are paid 15-40% above PwC Advisory consultants at equivalent levels — a meaningful premium that exists because Strategy& competes with…
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Cover image for an article on Strategy& Consulting, showing two consultants in a modern office with orange geometric accents and a subtle historical boardroom background symbolizing the Booz heritage inside PwC.

Strategy& Consulting: The Booz Heritage That Lives Inside PwC

Updated May 18, 2026 | By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant Strategy& is two firms operating in one corporate structure. On one side, a strategy boutique with 110+ years of heritage tracing back to Edwin Booz’s 1914 Chicago founding — a firm that built the deals, defense, and corporate strategy practices candidates target. On…
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