Top professional services firms including McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), PwC, and Ernst & Young (EY) have rapidly expanded their use of artificial intelligence — deploying thousands of AI agents internally to automate tasks and support client work — but are now moving beyond sheer adoption numbers to assess whether these tools actually deliver measurable value. Firms that once touted large fleets of agents are increasingly focusing on metrics like productivity gains, cost efficiency, and time saved, sparking a debate over how best to gauge ROI in an AI-driven consulting landscape.
At McKinsey, efforts to integrate AI agents at scale include plans to pair every consultant with at least one AI partner, reflecting a strategy that views AI as a core component of its workforce rather than a peripheral tool. However, competitors like EY and PwC caution that quantity alone isn’t a reliable success metric, arguing that agents should be measured by how much they enhance human workflows, improve output quality, and free up time for higher-value work rather than by the number deployed.
Across the industry, the emphasis is shifting toward strategic implementation and outcome-oriented evaluation. For example, PwC tracks human adoption and impact in specific “zones” such as customer service, while BCG monitors how saved time is reinvested in more analytical or creative tasks, noting that a substantial share contributes to personal well-being as well as client output. Consulting leaders agree that the next phase of AI integration involves demonstrating real business outcomes beyond initial experimentation.
This trend mirrors broader transformation in consulting: firms are rethinking traditional workflows, talent models, and delivery approaches as AI reshapes how services are designed and executed. Rather than viewing AI purely as a competitive gadget, the focus has shifted to aligning AI investments with measurable productivity improvements and client value, a move that reflects wider industry pressure to prove AI’s tangible benefits in professional services.
