Consulting firms including the Big Four and Accenture face growing pressure from clients demanding reduced fees or moving IT work in-house, driven by AI tools that cut integration needs. In FT interviews, global companies said they are leveraging AI to slash external advisory costs. Jochen Kamp, leading an IT overhaul at German drugmaker Bayer, stated "fewer and fewer" traditional consultants will be needed, noting 30 AI agents now support coding and testing in a six-year SAP system overhaul. SAP CFO Dominik Asam predicted AI would "massively displace" parts of consulting, claiming system changes could cut external consultant costs by up to 50 percent.

Despite Source Global estimating $420bn in technology consulting spend this year — up 8 percent — investor anxiety is rising. Capgemini shares have fallen 31 percent and Accenture shares 27 percent in 2026. Greg Meyers, chief digital and technology officer at Bristol Myers Squibb, said managed services costs are "collapsing" and cybersecurity monitoring contracts are disappearing as AI takes over. BMS is pushing advisers toward fixed-price or performance-related fees, warning it can easily bring work in-house. Capgemini CEO Aiman Ezzat dismissed reports of the profession's death as exaggerated, though the article was cut off mid-sentence.