PwC partners who fail to embrace AI have no future at firm, US CEO warns | PwC
The US boss of PricewaterhouseCoopers has warned that partners who do not understand artificial intelligence have no future at the consultancy firm.
Paul Griggs said senior staff who are not paranoid about “AI first” will likely be replaced by others ready to embrace the technology. “I don’t think anyone gets a free pass here. Nobody,” Griggs told the Financial Times.
Griggs added that an employee who thinks they have the “opportunity to give up” on AI “isn’t going to be here that long.”
Consulting is one of many white-collar industries that experts believe are in the firing line of advances in artificial intelligence, due to the technology’s ability to automate work related to tasks such as accounting, research and analyzing business problems.
But the data also shows that large consulting groups such as PwC, Accenture and McKinsey are benefiting from clients seeking help implementing AI in their businesses. K2 Consulting Research, which tracks the industry, said global consulting will grow 5.5% in 2025, double the growth rate of the previous year.
Griggs said PwC’s employment strategy has changed as artificial intelligence has changed working practices, but the firm remains a “net talent enabler at this point.”
“Am I hiring the same number of accountants and engineers versus traditional consultants on a proportionate basis as three years ago? No,” he said.
Griggs added that PwC is hiring more data experts. Last year, the firm cut headcount by 5,600, bringing its global headcount to under 365,000.
Griggs told the FT that PwC would turn some of its tax and advisory services into AI-powered automated tools that could be paid for by annual subscription. Traditionally, consulting companies bill clients based on the number of hours they work on their projects. The new tax and advisory tools can be accessed “without being a PwC employee,” Griggs said.
PwC is launching “PwC One,” an artificial intelligence platform that offers clients six automated services, including an “anomaly detector” that can detect flaws in a company’s sustainability data.
Griggs said the shift to automation could result in new pricing models for the industry and expand the market for services offered by the big four consulting and accounting firms (PwC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG).
“Over time, we will shift more and more of our work to outcome pricing, which I believe our clients will readily accept because ultimately all our clients care about is the outcome,” he said.
