Consulting firms have built thousands of AI agents. Now they're trying to figure out their worth.

A significant conversation is unfolding regarding the genuine impact of artificial intelligence, as consulting firms strive to unveil the answers. Over the past year, these firms have deployed numerous AI agents, both to enhance their internal processes and to guide clients in automating their operations. This includes tasks such as conducting research, creating specialized tools, and developing proprietary AI models. Bob Sternfels, CEO of McKinsey & Company, revealed that his firm has rolled out tens of thousands of internal AI agents, with a goal of equipping each of the 40,000 employees with their own agent. However, amidst this swift implementation, a critical question looms: Is the investment in AI truly justified? Consultants are now focused on evaluating whether AI is genuinely improving overall performance, increasing revenue, and allowing professionals to concentrate on more valuable tasks. Mina Alaghband, a former partner at McKinsey and now the Chief Customer Officer at Writer, an enterprise AI platform, commented on the shift in focus. She noted that just a year ago, companies were primarily concerned with adoption rates and usage metrics. Now, the emphasis has shifted towards assessing the value generated by these tools, such as reallocating human labor to more strategic work and tracking revenue improvements. Dan Priest, PwC's Chief AI Officer, echoed this sentiment, stating that the firm is now more interested in the number of human users interacting with each AI agent rather than merely counting the number of agents deployed. His approach involves identifying 'impact zones' where specialized AI agents can effectively enhance customer experiences. EY's global engineering chief, Steve Newman, also shared his firm's approach, emphasizing the importance of quality over quantity. EY monitors the value generated by AI agents through key performance indicators that assess productivity, quality, and cost efficiency on a monthly basis. For the Boston Consulting Group, the metric of interest is time saved and how that time is reinvested into higher-value work. Scott Wilder, a partner at BCG, reported that employees now spend roughly 15% less time on low-value tasks, like creating presentations, and redirect approximately 70% of that saved time into more meaningful activities, such as comprehensive analyses. Interestingly, the time saved does not always translate into increased workload. For some at BCG, it results in more personal time. Wilder noted that employees retain about 30% of the time saved by AI, allowing them to enjoy activities like getting extra sleep or attending yoga classes. This shift aligns with economist John Keynes's early 20th-century predictions about the evolution of work-life balance as productivity rises. As we approach 2030, glimpses of this vision may already be materializing, providing benefits to employees in ways that enhance their quality of life. As Wilder put it, every bit of free time counts in this demanding profession. Consultants are keen to learn more about how AI is reshaping their work. Those with insights are encouraged to reach out and share their experiences.