Among all the white-collar jobs covered by AI, management consulting—an opinion-based job that relies heavily on analytical and problem-solving skills—ranks next to the fear of displacement. As LLM thinkers and AI agents do more high-level jobs faster and harder, big firms like McKinsey, Accenture and the “Big Four” are cutting jobs and rethinking how they hire.
That does not mean that consultation disappears. For college graduates and young professionals aspiring to enter the field, it simply means a different set of skills and qualities will be needed to succeed. On Tuesday (Jan. 6), Bob Sternfels, McKinsey & Company’s chairman of the board and global managing partner—the firm’s top role—shared those criteria during a speech at CES 2026.
Sternfels highlighted three skills that will continue to be important in an AI-infused world:
- Aspire. Setting the right goals and inspiring others to believe in them—leadership and direction are key.
- Judgment. Ability to distinguish right from wrong and prioritize effectively. “AI models don’t know right or wrong. People need to set the right boundaries, whether it’s based on company values or social norms,” Sternfels said.
- Creation. A recurring theme among leaders across industries. AI is still built on “predictive models,” Sternfels said, and the ability to passively generate new ideas remains a human skill that cannot be replaced by machines anytime soon.
For decades, the world of consulting was largely defined by lineage. But in the age of AI, “where you went to school doesn’t matter,” Sternfels said. In tech, he noted, hiring is increasingly focused on signals of ability rather than credentials—”not what university you graduated from, but what your GitHub profile looks like. That means a broader set of people can enter the workforce in different ways.”
Sternfels was joined on stage by Hemant Taneja, CEO of investment firm General Catalyst, and angel investor Jason Calacanis for a live recording of the popular song. All-in a podcast. Regarding creativity, Taneja added, “Learning to ask the right questions and solve difficult problems are very different thoughts. It’s about curiosity and going back to being a child.”
McKinsey recently made headlines for cutting hundreds of office jobs as AI changes parts of its operations. Putting a number on the impact for the first time, Sternfels said the company reduced customer churn by 25 percent while seeing a 10 percent productivity gain from AI.
However, the most important number is that the company is increasing its customer-facing staff by 25 percent, Sternfels said, which amounts to “an unprecedented number of new hires, because the work is changing.”
McKinsey employs about 43,000 people worldwide, according to its website, with the population split evenly between customer-facing and back-office roles. That balance is obviously changing as the company does its business differently.
The learning gap
However, one question the consulting industry has yet to find a satisfactory answer to is how to train and develop talent in the AI era. And top universities don’t seem to prepare students, either.
Entry-level consultants often spend significant time reading documentation and doing repetitive work. Such mock work was not only part of the workflow but also the main way the young workers learned and developed. As those jobs become easier to automate, new hires risk losing opportunities to build skills, judgment and character.
“There’s a big gap in resilience,” Sternfels said. “You will be expelled. The question is: do you stand up? And how do you come back? I think the education system today does not build the individual’s ability to strengthen.”
