Google just lately introduced its partnership with Accenture, Deloitte, and McKinsey—backed by a $750 million fund—to hurry up enterprise adoption of its tech stack.
I imagine that moderately than accelerating the profitable adoption of AI, this partnership will kneecap it—and break down belief within the wider consultancy business within the course of.
Why? As a result of the success of each of these items is premised on belief. Enterprises, having come by way of a tough interval of hype-driven spending on synthetic intelligence, are actually in search of AI investments they will belief to ship outcomes. In that search, they’re turning to their trusted consulting companions to assist them by way of the digital transformation.
But by way of this industrial partnership, these big-ticket consultancies have tied their backside traces on to how a lot AI they will promote—placing this into direct battle with their dedication to ship outcomes to their shoppers above all else.
If Google’s gross sales targets and the wants of the enterprise shoppers diverge—which, as we’ll get on to, is more likely to happen—then the consultants must choose a facet. I don’t wish to be too pessimistic about my very own business, however the cash-flush AI lab appears more likely to win no less than a few of these tussles.
Uncertainty and vulnerability
However, is all of it unhealthy? Absolutely nearer ties will facilitate extra seamless rollouts, assist sooner execution, and supply reductions? There are actually advantages. It’s additionally not unusual for consultancies to have companions (my consultancy counts Xerox as a shopper and has clearance to promote Xerox options to different shoppers).
The distinction is that AI is creating at hyper pace. That creates uncertainty in people and vulnerabilities in expertise. Goal, balanced counsel is extra essential than ever below these circumstances.
First, the “finest” expertise is consistently altering. Over the previous three years, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude have every, at numerous instances, pulled forward of the others when it comes to functionality. One other DeepSeek-style challenger may come out of left discipline and displace all of them tomorrow.
An goal AI advisor needs to be selling mannequin flexibility for long-term resilience from shocks, together with in costs. I concern Google’s new $750 million partnership—and, for what it’s price, OpenAI’s very related Frontier Alliance, introduced in February—is promoting dependence, which may in a short time result in frustration with the expertise and its new salespeople.
Second, even essentially the most technologically sensible enterprise shoppers can’t, and should by no means, deeply perceive AI; even its architects don’t actually know the way it works. These shoppers are at the hours of darkness—and are turning to consultancies to assist them evaluate their choices, strategize implementation, after which execute it with guardrails.
The consulting business needs to be taking part in the cool, calm, and picked up mediator function—slicing by way of the gross sales converse of Huge AI and the stress on and inside enterprises to innovate with AI. If, as an alternative, we’re additional contributing to the furor or pushing our personal agenda or that of a accomplice, then our shoppers could start slicing us out of the loop.
Third, enterprises are cautious beasts. They’ve reputations to defend and plenty of stakeholders to safeguard. Safety and compliance are, rightly, excessive on their agenda. AI’s influence on these isn’t but totally understood, however we all know it to be large.
A dangerous play
If consultancies are incentivized to promote AI and promote it quick, it appears more likely to me that pace of adoption will more and more trump safety and compliance in consultants’ choices and recommendation. That’s a really dangerous play, fairly actually.
Lastly, as a result of there was such a rush to deploy AI rapidly—fueled partially by massive consultancies’ scaremongering—plenty of sources have already been spent on AI. A lot of this poured down the drain, with little to indicate for it. Enterprises’ boards have had sufficient, and now must see outcomes.
If, then, the consulting companions shoppers have trusted to ship these outcomes begin sounding like AI salespeople, and appear to be neglecting long-term resilience—which comes with mannequin flexibility, safety, and compliance—or profiting from a lack of information of AI to upsell, then shoppers’ belief in these supposed paragons of objectivity, and the expertise they promote, will nosedive.
A July 2025 MIT report discovered that 95% of enterprise gen AI initiatives have been delivering zero measurable return. This jolted the enterprise panorama and contributed to an AI-stock selloff. Consultants and AI labs ought to take word.
Enterprise AI shoppers take note of outcomes, and they should see returns on their investments.
If we now see AI rushed by way of by consultancies partnered with AI labs, then but extra dreary figures will emerge about unsuccessful AI initiatives. It will dampen urge for food for AI and are available full circle for each the consultancies and the labs—placing shoppers off them each in equal measure.
