The Inevitable Has Arrived
I recently came across an article in The Economic Times discussing a fascinating development: consultancies are now employing AI as consultants (When a consultancy uses an AI consultant). To many, this might seem like a leap into a futuristic, almost sci-fi, reality. For me, however, it feels less like a surprise and more like an inevitable milestone on a path I’ve been observing for over a decade.
It is striking to see a concept I have long contemplated manifest so clearly. The core idea is this — take a moment to notice that I had brought up this thought years ago. Back in 2010, I wrote about the Future of Search Engines and predicted a fundamental shift in how we would interact with information. I noted then:
"I am acutely conscious that in another 25 years, no one will search for 'INFORMATION' on Google - Yahoo - MSN etc. They will enter their current / expected 'problem' in a hand - held device and receive readymade 'solution / answer / advice' in milliseconds !"
Reflecting on it today, seeing consultancies deploy AI to do precisely this—receive a problem and generate a solution—feels like a moment of profound validation. What was once a distant prediction is now a business model.
From Parsing Data to Providing Advice
My journey in understanding this transition has been hands-on. I remember the laborious, manual process of trying to parse keywords from large documents, a task that now seems almost trivial (Fw: Update: Parsing blogs). The arrival of large language models like ChatGPT was a watershed moment. It was immediately clear that the game had changed from finding information to synthesizing knowledge.
This shift prompted me to write an open note to Sundar Pichai, urging him to integrate this new conversational, solution-oriented approach into Google's core (Google , watch out – here comes ChatGPT). The AI consultant is the logical extension of this paradigm: a specialized, industry-aware version of the same technology, designed not just to answer but to advise.
The Disruption of Intermediaries
In 2018, while exploring Google’s semantic search engine, I wondered about its potential to eliminate intermediaries like head-hunters and recruiters (Quantum Jump ?). The same disruptive force is now at the doorstep of the consulting world. The value of a consultant has traditionally been in their expertise—a vast repository of knowledge and experience used to diagnose problems and craft solutions. AI can now replicate, and in some cases exceed, the knowledge-retrieval aspect of this role at an incredible scale and speed.
Does this mean the end of the human consultant? I don't believe so. Instead, it signals an evolution. The human role will elevate from being the source of answers to being the arbiter of wisdom. It will be about asking the AI the right questions, challenging its assumptions, and integrating its data-driven insights with human empathy, ethics, and strategic creativity. The AI becomes a formidable partner, amplifying human intellect rather than replacing it entirely.
The consultant is no longer just a person; it is a human-machine partnership. The algorithm has taken its seat at the table, and we must learn how to collaborate with it.
Regards,
Hemen Parekh
Of course, if you wish, you can debate this topic with my Virtual Avatar at : hemenparekh.ai
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