AI can accelerate consulting, but without guardrails, speed erodes trust. True progress needs accountability and credibility.

When strategy leaders say they want “partner-level judgment without the overhead,” they are signaling more than cost pressure — they are asking for a new kind of consulting. Based on two years of conversations with executives across industries, this article explores the unspoken demand for more flexible, transparent, and human-centered models of consulting, and how Alt-Consulting is emerging to meet it.

The real disruption isn’t AI’s speed, it’s judgment. When structure can be automated, consulting must rediscover what truly creates value.