Can OpenAI Replace McKinsey and the Big 4 with Its AI Consulting Arm?

The consulting industry is undergoing a fundamental reset, with OpenAI rapidly reshaping the rules of enterprise transformation and outpacing established giants such as Accenture, Palantir, and McKinsey. 

Launched in early 2025, OpenAI’s consulting division has gained attention by focusing on operational execution, integrating top-tier AI engineering talent within client organisations, and delivering production-ready systems at a speed and scale that traditional consultancies cannot match. 

With a minimum engagement of US$10 million and a US$200 million contract with the Pentagon already secured, OpenAI has transitioned from merely an AI vendor to becoming the most influential consulting entity of the decade, providing both advice and functional code. 

AI transforms consulting from a people-centric, advisory-led sector into a data-driven, technology-enabled service. Yet, despite the disruptive potential of AI, human consultants remain essential. The future will favour those who merge AI’s computational capabilities with the indispensable governance, assurance, and strategic oversight human experts provide. 

OpenAI’s Consulting Model in Action 

Inspired by Palantir’s forward-deployed engineering (FDE) model, OpenAI’s consulting approach eliminates traditional intermediaries by embedding its engineers within client organisations. They develop custom GPT-4o models, domain-specific copilots, and AI agents that automate procurement, logistics, and defence operations. 

With high-profile clients such as the U.S. Department of Defence and Grab, OpenAI delivers measurable results in weeks rather than quarters, significantly shortening project timelines and reshaping client expectations. This shift has already relegated legacy firms like McKinsey and the Big 4 to more supportive roles, transforming them from leaders in transformation to integration partners and compliance reviewers. 

How OpenAI is Changing the Game 

Traditional consulting relies on analysis and recommendations delivered over months. OpenAI integrates AI directly into client operations, generating real-time actionable insights and automating core processes.  

OpenAI’s approach introduces several forces that traditional consulting has never faced: 

• Embedded AI Solutions: OpenAI goes beyond recommendations; its AI is woven into client workflows, delivering real-time actionable insights and ensuring that solutions are implemented rather than merely proposed. 

• Outcome-Focused Engagements: Success is measured by tangible business impact rather than presentations or frameworks, shifting accountability towards delivering measurable results. 

• Rapid Deployment and Scalability: AI can model multiple scenarios, simulate outcomes, and implement solutions across complex organisations much faster than traditional teams. 

• Cost Efficiency: By automating analysis and data modelling, OpenAI can significantly reduce costs while maintaining or enhancing the quality of insights. 

The Human Advantage 

AI can generate recommendations and simulate scenarios, but real-world business decisions require human judgment, creativity, and trust. Here’s where human consultants remain irreplaceable: 

• Strategic Judgment: AI can produce options, but humans interpret these in the context of organisational goals, industry trends, and ethical considerations. 

• Contextual Understanding: A grasp of culture, politics, and organisational dynamics is vital for effective implementation, something AI cannot fully replicate. 

• Relationship and Trust Building: Successful change management, stakeholder engagement, and adopting new solutions depend on human credibility and communication. 

• Innovation Beyond Patterns: AI excels at recognising patterns, but human creativity, vision, and disruptive strategic thinking are essential. 

Implications for the Consulting Industry 

The emergence of AI-native consulting presents clear challenges for traditional firms: 

• Competitive Pressure: Firms that do not integrate AI into their services risk losing clients who seek faster, data-driven, cost-effective solutions. 

• Hybrid Model Necessity: The most successful consulting engagements will blend AI’s computational power with human insight to deliver strategic, contextualised solutions. 

• Talent Evolution: Future consultants must use AI tools while retaining critical thinking, strategic insight, and client management skills. 

• Opportunity for Collaboration: Rather than viewing AI as a threat, firms can collaborate with AI-native providers, combining technological efficiency with domain expertise to achieve superior outcomes. 

The Path Forward 

AI is not a replacement for consulting but a catalyst for reinvention. Firms that view AI as a tool rather than a threat can unlock extraordinary value for clients. OpenAI exemplifies how speed, scale, and predictive analytics can redefine outcomes, but these tools achieve their full potential only when guided by human judgment.  

The consulting firms that will thrive in this new era are those that: 

• Seamlessly integrate AI into client workflows while preserving the human touch. 

  
  

• Train consultants to interpret, apply, and contextualise AI-generated insights. 

  
  

• Uphold firmly focused on ethics, stakeholder trust, and long-term business impact. 

  
  

• Continuously innovate, using AI to enhance, not replace, the strategic thinking that defines consulting excellence. 

Conclusion 

OpenAI is not just changing consulting but redefining what leadership in this industry looks like. Firms that fail to integrate AI into their operations risk becoming obsolete. The new standard will be a hybrid model where AI delivers speed, accuracy, and scale, and humans provide judgment, context, and trust. The firms that master this approach will dominate the next decade of consulting.