Ep. 133 – The Return of Real Advisory: Why AI Is Ending the Era of Scaled Delivery

When AI commoditizes delivery work, consulting firms have to prove where their real value lives.

Olly Purnell, Managing Partner and co-founder of Q5, argues that consulting is being pushed back toward a more precise advisory model: specialist expertise, clear scope, and judgment clients cannot easily replicate.

As AI makes research, benchmarking, reporting, and analysis faster and cheaper, firms built around scaled delivery and broad service portfolios face a harder question. What are they truly known for? Olly shares why Q5 has operated more like an architect’s practice since 2009, why fixed-fee, fixed-scope work can create sharper client value, and why future-ready consulting firms still need to invest in young talent.

You’ll learn:

1. Why AI weakens the economics of large delivery teams
2. How specialist firms can create advantage in uncertain markets
3. What makes generalist positioning increasingly vulnerable
4. Why fixed-scope advisory changes the client relationship
5. How future talent keeps expertise from becoming outdated

Olly Purnell is open to connecting about specialist advisory, AI, and the future consulting model.

If you would like to exchange perspectives, reach out on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olly-purnell-organization-health/

Sarah Edwards is Chief Product Officer at Kantata and has spent over 30 years helping professional services firms scale, transform, and deliver measurable business value across the US and Europe. She is passionate about how AI is reshaping the consulting industry, from how firms win work and deliver outcomes to how they empower talent and strengthen client relationships.


Get in touch with Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahedwards3/

More episodes and insights: https://www.leadersinconsulting.com/podcast