How AI Is Rebuilding the Consulting Model (with StratOff)
The consulting industry has run on the same pyramid model for a century. AI is removing the base. In this episode, Drew talks with Utsav Bhatt, CEO of StratOff, about what comes next — the five archetypes of alternative consulting already emerging, why most enterprise AI transformations keep stalling out, and the identity and culture barriers that no one is talking about enough.
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
AI is collapsing the consulting pyramid: The traditional model depends on large layers of junior analysts doing research and synthesis. Once AI automates that work, the economic logic of the whole pyramid breaks — and a new model (fewer layers, more senior judgment, outcome-based pricing) has to take its place.
Five alt consulting archetypes are already forming: Solo experts, senior-heavy boutiques using AI as their operating system, strategy-as-a-product firms, expert insight platforms, and on-demand curated networks of ex-MBB talent. Incumbents now have to compete with all five at once.
Why enterprises are stuck in pilot theater: 90% of CEOs in one study say AI hasn't moved productivity. McKinsey puts 94% of companies in pilot mode. MIT found 84% of companies that invested in AI training haven't changed a single role. Companies are adopting tools — they're not redesigning work.
The behavior change problem isn't resistance, it's identity protection: Employees aren't rejecting AI. They're protecting how they know how to succeed. If your career was built on owning information and following proven processes, AI threatens all of that simultaneously. Redefining roles and creating psychological safety to experiment is where most companies fall short.
Real transformation follows the Rewire framework: Reimagine, Redesign, Realize. Most companies stop at step one. The redesign phase — actually rethinking processes, roles, and incentive structures — is where the gains live. The Solow Paradox from the 1980s is instructive: computerization didn't show up in productivity data for 10-15 years, because companies computerized their old processes instead of rethinking them.
McKinsey won't disappear, but consulting will unbundle: The big firms are already moving toward outcome-based pricing and deeper AI integration. What shifts is who gets access and what they pay for. Mid-market companies that couldn't afford MBB will access AI-powered boutiques. MBB retreats to the highest-complexity work. And as ex-consulting partners move in-house to corporate strategy offices, enterprise buyers will get much sharper about what they actually need to buy externally.
FEATURED GUESTS
Utsav Bhatt, CEO, StratOff LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/utsavbhatt/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/utsavbhatt/] StratOff: https://www.stratoff.com/ [https://www.stratoff.com/]
Host: Drew Beechler, VP of Marketing, Alloy Partners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewbeechler/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewbeechler/] Alloy Partners: https://www.alloypartners.com/ [https://www.alloypartners.com/]
REFERENCED IN THE SHOW
* Alt Consulting [https://www.amazon.com/Alt-Consulting-comes-after-strategy-consulting/dp/B0G4S9LN8M?sr=8-1] by Utsav Bhatt
* "Services: The New Software" by Sequoia's Julien Bek [https://sequoiacap.com/article/services-the-new-software/]
* The Solow Paradox [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_paradox] — Robert Solow's 1987 observation on computers and productivity
* Jack Dorsey on Block's new three-layer org structure [https://block.xyz/inside/from-hierarchy-to-intelligence]
RESOURCES & RELATED LINKS
* Advantaged podcast: https://advantaged.alloypartners.com/ [https://advantaged.alloypartners.com/]
* Alloy Partners resources: https://www.alloypartners.com/resources [https://www.alloypartners.com/resources]
* Learn about venture building: https://www.alloypartners.com/articles/what-is-venture-building [https://www.alloypartners.com/articles/what-is-venture-building]
* Learn about corporate venture studios: https://www.alloypartners.com/articles/corporate-venture-studio [https://www.alloypartners.com/articles/corporate-venture-studio]
* Work with Alloy Partners: https://www.alloypartners.com/connect [https://www.alloypartners.com/connect]
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