How Agentic AI Is Reshaping Consulting

Traditional consulting has long meant slow proposals, extended analysis cycles, and bulky presentations that arrive just as conditions change. In an era of rapid disruption, that approach is no longer keeping up.

Which is why many believe that Agentic AI is likely to disrupt how traditional consulting takes place. Agentic AI systems don’t just analyze data or generate insights on demand. They operate more like autonomous collaborators by defining problems, building hypotheses, running analyses, and adapting continuously as new data emerges. According to Arda Ecevit, Co-Founder and CEO of NexStrat, this shift has profound implications for how strategy work gets done.

“NexStrat is an agentic AI platform that supports business users — from executives to management consultants themselves — in making decisions, developing strategies, and building action plans,” Ecevit says. “It supports the entire journey from strategy to execution.”

From episodic advisory to continuous strategy

Ecevit knows the consulting world well. He spent nearly 15 years in management consulting before moving in-house as Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at a major e-commerce and food delivery platform. That experience exposed him to one of the industry’s structural limitations: consulting in its traditional sense is episodic in nature.

“Traditional Consulting is not scalable, it’s not continuous,” he explains. “You need large budgets, projects take months to even start, and once you get the reports, you can’t really iterate on them as new data becomes available.”

Agentic AI offers a fundamentally different model. Instead of episodic engagements, platforms like NexStrat provide always-on strategic support. Users can revisit assumptions, update analyses, and revise strategies in near real time, all of which would be something that would be impractical or prohibitively expensive with human consultants alone.

“In the traditional model, you might be lucky to get answers in six months,” Ecevit says. “With agentic AI, you can start generating hypotheses and iterating on them within minutes.”

Re-architecting consulting’s core structure

This trend isn’t just about speed. It is already reshaping the very structure of consulting firms themselves.

Martín Lewit, SVP of Growth and Development and Head of Nisum Latam, a digital consultancy for Fortune 500 companies, says, “Traditional intelligent automation delivers cost savings, but agentic AI introduces new ways of working. For leaders, the question becomes not ‘How do we optimize existing processes?’ but ‘What new capabilities can AI‑driven solutions unlock?’”

Nate MacLeitch, CEO of QuickBlox, a company that offers AI-assisted chat and video APIs and SDKs, emphasizes how AI is becoming an integral part of digital processes. “We now enable businesses to build and integrate AI assistants that automate data collection, provide administrative support, and deliver personalized experiences. This shift shows how AI is moving from an optional add‑on to a core capability in workflows.”

Boston Global Forum recently highlighted how artificial intelligence is undermining consulting’s traditional pyramid model, where large teams of junior analysts conduct research and synthesis while a small set of senior partners interpret insights and build strategy. AI systems now automate much of that junior-level work through data gathering, modeling, and first-pass analysis. These can deliver results faster and more cheaply than human teams. This pressures firms to rethink staffing models and delivery structures rather than merely bolting AI onto old processes.

That insight mirrors what Ecevit sees in the market: “AI can do the heavy analytical lifting so humans can focus on higher-order judgment and leadership,” he says. The result is not just a speed advantage, but a transformation of the consulting value chain itself, moving from a resource-heavy labor model to one centered on AI-augmented expertise.

Faster, more agile decision-making

Speed remains one of agentic AI’s most immediate advantages. NexStrat mirrors the hypothesis-driven problem-solving approach used by top-tier strategy firms: clarifying objectives and constraints, building hypotheses, crafting analysis plans, running data work, and refining conclusions.

“The difference is that you can do all of this maybe a hundred times faster,” Ecevit says.

This agility matters in a business environment defined by volatility, regulatory shifts, competitive moves, supply chain disruption, and tech-driven market changes. NexStrat’s agents can continuously scan for new developments and reassess strategies as conditions evolve.

“If a new regulation passes or a major cost driver changes, you can revise your strategy almost instantly,” Ecevit notes. “That ability to continuously adapt is a real game changer.”

A broader and growing set of use cases

NexStrat serves both enterprises and consulting firms, with strong adoption across each. The platform is already used by major banks, Fortune 500 FMCG companies, technology firms, and consultants globally, and has successfully completed a pilot with one of the world’s largest consulting firms among “the Big 4”. In particular, NexStrat acts as a powerful force multiplier for boutique consultancies and independent experts, enabling them to significantly expand delivery capacity and effectiveness with existing resources while freeing time to focus on expert judgment, critical strategic insights, client delivery, and business growth.

“As long as the AI is trained to think like a consultant — using structured processes, frameworks, and the right analytical tools — it can support human decision-makers and consultants across many different problems,” Ecevit says.

Beyond strategy, NexStrat is also translating strategies and decisions into executable plans and targets almost instantly with agentic AI. The platform can develop detailed action plans, define KPIs and owners, and act as a “coach” that monitors progress, identifies delays, and analyzes root causes when targets aren’t being met.

The beginning of a new era in consultancy

Agentic AI won’t make consultants obsolete but it will redefine what consulting is. Strategy is becoming faster, more iterative, and more embedded in day-to-day operations. As platforms like NexStrat mature, they point toward a future where AI handles the heavy analytical lifting, while humans focus on judgment, leadership, and change, while the consulting industry’s old structures give way to leaner, more agile models.

In that sense, agentic AI isn’t just changing how consulting is delivered. It’s changing why and where human expertise adds value. And that may be the most profound shift of all.

Reshaping without replacing

Despite the parallels with consulting work, Ecevit is clear that agentic AI is not about eliminating human consultants altogether.

“We’re not saying it’s a total replacement,” he says. “Whenever high-stakes or irreversible decisions are involved, or when companies are in trouble, human consultants will continue to be valuable.”

Lewitt echoes the idea that humans remain central to AI decisioning. “At Nisum, we use technology to expand what people can achieve,” says Lewit, “AI is not just a tool on its own. It is built into every part of our delivery model. By combining it with human judgment, we help people make smarter decisions rather than fewer.”

What changes, Ecevit argues, is where that value lies. As AI takes over analytical and research-heavy tasks, human consultants’ strengths will shift toward areas machines struggle to replicate: implementation, execution, stakeholder management, communication, and leading organizational change.

“Those human aspects of the job will become more and more important,” Ecevit says.

Asparuh Koev, CEO of logistics AI company Transmetrics, illustrates that, “Even if a system can run on autopilot, we still can’t imagine it without a pilot in the cockpit. AI will take over repetitive work and spreadsheets, but human experts remain indispensable to oversee, guide, and intervene when needed.” 

In practice, agentic AI may even reshape when external consultants enter the process. Companies can use AI to develop strong internal hypotheses and action plans, then bring in external advisors later to validate decisions, manage risk, or support implementation.

Keeping humans firmly in the loop

With greater autonomy comes greater responsibility — and Ecevit emphasizes that human oversight remains essential.

“During development, humans need to ensure the AI is trained ethically,” he says. “During deployment, applications must be designed with transparency, control, and governance mechanisms so humans stay in the driving seat.”

In high-impact decisions, AI should flag recommendations for human review rather than act unilaterally. Users also need visibility into how conclusions are reached.

“People need to understand the rationale and assumptions behind a strategic direction,” Ecevit says. “They should be able to trace where insights come from and how the AI arrived at them.”