AI is eating the consulting industry alive. The Big Four just became the first casualties of the tools they sell.

Bayer just deployed 30 AI agents to replace consultants on a six-year SAP overhaul.

Their IT lead said it plainly: "Fewer and fewer consultants will be needed."

This isn't a prediction. It's happening now.

Capgemini shares are down 31% this year. Accenture down 27%.

The market already knows what's coming.

UniCredit cut external consulting spend 24% in the first half of 2026.

Société Générale cut 9%.

Commerzbank is investing €600M in AI to eliminate €500M in annual costs — much of it from their consulting bill.

Bristol Myers Squibb's chief digital officer said tech support costs are "collapsing" and cyber monitoring contracts are "going away" because AI does it now.

SAP itself claims its new AI components will cut consulting implementation costs by 50%.

The consulting model was built on human hours at scale. AI just made those hours optional.

Source Global data: only 1 in 3 clients say an IT transformation project overseen by external advisers was wholly successful. Big Four satisfaction dropped from 80% to 55%.

If you're paying consultants by the hour for work AI can do in days, your board will ask why by Q4.

Audit your consulting contracts now. Switch to fixed-price or outcomes-based. The firms that won't adapt are the ones your competitors are already replacing.

SOURCE: https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2026/08/31/consultants-head-for-a-showdown-with-their-own-clients/
VERIFIED: Irish Times (Aug 31, 2026), Crypto Briefing (Jun 18, 2026), Enterprise DNA (Jun 20, 2026)
SIGNAL: The consulting industry is the first $420B sector where AI is destroying demand from the inside — clients who buy AI transformation are using it to fire the consultants who sold it.