“`html

The Future of Consulting: AI and the Human Practitioner

Presented by SAP

When SAP ran an internal experiment to gauge consultant attitudes toward AI, the results were striking. Five teams were asked to validate answers to more than 1,000 business requirements completed by SAP’s AI co-pilot, Joule for Consultants – a workload that would normally take several weeks.

Four teams were told the analysis had been completed by junior interns fresh out of school. Thay reviewed the material, found it impressive, and rated the work about 95% accurate.

The fifth team was told the very same answers had come from AI.

They rejected almost everything.

Only when asked to validate each answer one by one did they discover that the AI was, in fact, highly accurate – surfacing detailed insights the consultants had initially dismissed.The overall accuracy? again, about 95%.

“The lesson learned here is that we need to be very cautious as we introduce AI – especially in how we communicate with senior consultants about it’s possibilities and how to integrate it into their workflows,” says Guillermo B. Vazquez Mendez, chief architect, RI business transformation and architecture, SAP America Inc.

The experiment has as become a revealing starting point for SAP’s push toward the consultant of 2030: a practitioner who is deeply human, enabled by AI, and no longer weighed down by the technical grunt work of the past.

Overcoming AI Skepticism

Resistance isn’t surprising, Vazquez notes. Consultants with two or three decades of experience carry enormous institutional knowledge and a well-honed skillset. They’ve built their careers on expertise,and the idea of an AI challenging that can be unsettling.

The Root of the Resistance

The SAP experiment highlights a key issue: preconceived notions. Consultants, expecting less from junior interns, were more open to accepting their work. However, when the same quality of work was attributed to AI, skepticism took over. This demonstrates a bias against AI, potentially stemming from concerns about job security or a lack of trust in the technology’s capabilities.

Reframing the Narrative

SAP’s approach to overcoming this skepticism involves reframing the narrative around AI. Instead of positioning AI as a replacement for consultants, they emphasize its role as an enabler. Joule for Consultants isn’t designed to do the consulting; it’s designed to support the consultant, freeing them from tedious tasks and allowing them to focus on higher-value activities like strategic thinking, client relationship building, and creative problem-solving.

The Consultant of 2030

The vision for the consultant of 2030 is one where human expertise and artificial intelligence work in harmony. This future practitioner will be characterized by:

• Deep Human skills: Empathy, interaction, critical thinking, and the ability to build trust with clients will be more vital than ever.
• AI Fluency: Consultants will need to understand how to effectively leverage AI tools like Joule to enhance their productivity and deliver better results.
• Focus on Strategic Value: With AI handling the more routine tasks, consultants can dedicate their time to strategic initiatives and complex problem-solving.
• Continuous Learning: The rapid pace of technological change will require consultants to be lifelong learners, constantly updating their skills and knowledge.

Key Takeaways

• Initial skepticism towards AI is common, frequently enough rooted in preconceived notions and concerns about job displacement.
• Reframing AI as an enabler, rather than a replacement, is crucial for gaining acceptance.
• The future of consulting lies in a symbiotic relationship between human expertise and artificial intelligence.
• Consultants of the future will need to develop strong human skills and AI fluency.

SAP’s experiment serves as a valuable lesson for organizations across industries. Successfully integrating AI requires not only technological innovation but also