AI and the Consulting Industry: Increasing Productivity through the use of AI

📌 Key facts

• Mission: Explore the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the consulting industry and investigate the opportunities and challenges it presents. By conducting extensive research and analysis, we aim to understand how AI is transforming the consulting landscape and identify ways to leverage this technology to drive innovation and value for both consultants and clients.

• When: Start anytime. Applications are open!
• How to apply: Send us an e-mail (at the end of this page) with your CV, a grade report, a short motivation and your suggested approach (proposed plan and questions, potential data, and methods, possible outcomes with a tentative outline).

Contents

• 💡 Background
• 🦾Who We Are
• 🎯 Goals
• 🧠 Topics of Interest
• 🎓 Profile
• 📚 Further Reading
• 📄 Requirements to any Work
• 📬 How to Apply

💡 Background

The consulting industry plays a critical role in helping organizations navigate complex business challenges and achieve their strategic objectives. As AI continues to advance, it has the potential to revolutionize the consulting profession by automating tasks, augmenting human capabilities, and unlocking new possibilities for data-driven insights and decision-making. However, the full implications of AI in the consulting industry have yet to be fully explored and understood. Join us in our mission to uncover the potential of AI in the consulting industry. By examining the current landscape, understanding the challenges faced by consultants, and exploring innovative solutions, we can shape the future of consulting and ensure its continued relevance and impact in a rapidly evolving business environment.

🦾Who We Are

The Chair for Strategy and Organization is focused on research with impact. This means we do not want to repeat old ideas and base our research solely on the research people did 10 years ago. Instead, we currently research topics that will shape the future. Topics such as Agile Organizations and Digital Disruption, Blockchain Technology, Creativity and Innovation, Digital Transformation and Business Model Innovation, Diversity, Education: Education Technology and Performance Management, HRTech, Leadership, and Teams.. We are always early in noticing trends, technologies, strategies, and organizations that shape the future, which has its ups and downs.

This thesis will be co-supervised Isabell Welpe and Bernd Storm.

🎯 Goals

1. Gain insights into the current challenges faced by consultants in adapting to AI technologies and methodologies.
2. Identify the specific tasks and processes within the consulting industry that can be enhanced or automated through AI.
3. Evaluate the impact of AI on consulting workflows, resource allocation, and client outcomes.
4. Examine the potential benefits and risks associated with the integration of AI in consulting practices.
5. Explore innovative AI-driven approaches for problem-solving, decision-making, and value creation in consulting engagements.
6. Investigate the role of AI in augmenting consultant expertise and capabilities, fostering collaboration, and delivering customized solutions.
7. Understand the ethical considerations and implications of AI adoption in the consulting industry.
8. Identify the skills and competencies required for consultants to effectively leverage AI technologies.
9. Assess the readiness of consulting firms and clients in adopting AI and develop strategies for successful implementation.
10. Contribute to the academic and practitioner knowledge on AI in consulting through rigorous research, analysis, and thought leadership.

🧠 Topics of Interest

• Challenges in adapting to AI technologies and methodologies in consulting
• Enhancing and automating tasks and processes through AI in consulting
• Impact of AI on consulting workflows, resource allocation, and client outcomes
• Benefits and risks of integrating AI in consulting practices
• AI-driven approaches for problem-solving, decision-making, and value creation in consulting
• Augmenting consultant expertise and capabilities with AI
• Ethical considerations of AI adoption in the consulting industry
• Skills and competencies required for leveraging AI in consulting
• Readiness of consulting firms and clients in adopting AI
• Advancing academic and practitioner knowledge on AI in consulting

🎓 Profile

• Proficiency in conducting interviews
• Enrolled in a Bachelor’s or Master's program related to Business Administration/Management/Consulting
• Fluent in English (additional proficiency in German is a plus)
• Reliable, self-driven, and motivated
• Demonstrated interest in management consulting and innovation
• Passion for learning and conducting impactful research

📚 Further Reading

1. Kowalkiewicz, M., & Davenport, T. H. (2019). The digital transformation of consulting. IT Professional, 21(4), 61-67.
2. Ansoff, H. I., Kipley, D., Lewis, A. O., & Helm-Stevens, R. (2018). Implanting strategic management. Springer.
3. Pettersson, O., & Aghaee, N. M. (2018). Digitalization of Professional Services: The Case of Value Creation in Virtual Consultancy. In Business Transformation through Innovation and Knowledge Management: An Academic Perspective (p. 418).
4. Oshri, I., Kotlarsky, J., & Willcocks, L. P. (2015). The Handbook of Global Outsourcing and Offshoring 3rd edition. Springer.
5. Davenport, T. H., & Ronanki, R. (2018). Artificial intelligence for the real world. Harvard Business Review, 96(1), 108-116.
6. Kiron, D., & Unruh, G. (2018). Is your business ready for artificial intelligence? MIT Sloan Management Review, 60(1), 1-6.
7. Bughin, J., Hazan, E., Ramaswamy, S., Chui, M., Allas, T., Dahlström, P., ... & Trench, M. (2017). Artificial intelligence–the next digital frontier. McKinsey Global Institute, McKinsey & Company.
8. Chui, M., Manyika, J., Miremadi, M., Henke, N., Chung, R., Nel, P., & Malhotra, S. (2018). Notes from the AI frontier: Applications and value of deep learning. McKinsey Global Institute.
9. Davenport, T. H., & Kirby, J. (2016). Just How Smart Are Smart Machines? MIT Sloan Management Review, 57(3), 21.
10. Lacity, M. C., & Willcocks, L. P. (2016). A new approach to automating services. MIT Sloan Management Review, 58(1), 40.
11. Skilton, M., & Hovsepian, F. (2017). The 4th Industrial Revolution: Responding to the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Business. Springer.

📄 Requirements to any Work

We do not want your research to gather dust in some corner of bookshelf but make it accessible to the world. Thus, we warmly encourage you to create some or all of the following:

• Infograph - visually represent some of your work
• Slide Deck - prepare a slide deck on your overall topic with relevant, interesting and impactful findings
• MVP- Develop a prototype with us to help consultants increase their productivity through AI

📬 How to Apply

If you are interested, please contact Isabell Welpe and Bernd Storm by submitting your CV, a grade report, a short motivation and your suggested research approach.

We are looking forward to hearing from you!

👉 Bernd: bernd@bitsandpretzels.com

👉 Isabell: welpe@tum.de

• Challenges in adapting to AI technologies and methodologies in consulting
• Enhancing and automating tasks and processes through AI in consulting
• Impact of AI on consulting workflows, resource allocation, and client outcomes
• Benefits and risks of integrating AI in consulting practices
• AI-driven approaches for problem-solving, decision-making, and value creation in consulting
• Augmenting consultant expertise and capabilities with AI
• Ethical considerations of AI adoption in the consulting industry
• Skills and competencies required for leveraging AI in consulting
• Readiness of consulting firms and clients in adopting AI
• Advancing academic and practitioner knowledge on AI in consulting